At the end of the eighties Rob van Bavel graduated from the Conservatory of Rotterdam with honours. The pianist, now a teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, has won many awards: the Wessel Ilcken-award, an Edison for the album Rob van Bavel Trio and various awards for soloists in Germany and Belgium. At the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington he became runner-up. Van Bavel is active in many fields, as soloist and leader of his own trio and octet, as accompanist in the Piet Noordijk Quartet, the Dutch Jazz Orchestra, the Carolyn Breuer Quartet, Ad Colen Quartet and Isotope. In addition he works as a composer and arranger.
The CD-series Jazz at the Pinehill contains solo recordings by ten famous Dutch pianists. Six of them, Jan Huydts, Karel Boehlee, Rob Madna, Frans Elsen, Rob van Bavel and Bert van den Brink, will be performing at the festival Escher Hall. Small private sessions in an old basement, turned into a studio, in Leersum were the inspiration for Jazz at the Pinehill. A select audience enjoyed the memorable performances in an intimate environment. For some pianists this was their first solo-CD recording.
