Biography

In the end it’s not the instrument that counts but the music. The guitar is happenstance, the idea and the sound are deliberate....

Joep van Leeuwen performs in formats ranging from solo jazz guitar to big band. His styles range from Swing to Nu Jazz switching easily from his acoustic guitar, to his amplified guitars and to synthesizer guitar. With Maastricht, Holland as his basis he has performed in Holland, Belgium and Germany, played international jazz festivals including three times at the Montreux Jazz Festival. John Abercrombie wrote the liner notes to his solo jazz guitar cd. He has been training professional guitarists as a member of the Maastricht Academy of Music since 1985 and teaches Jazz History at this university level institution. His in-depth writings on jazz have been published in newspapers and jazz magazines and are appreciated for explaining jazz for a general audience from a professional perspective.