He has been surrounded by music for as long as he can remember. Singer Ronald Douglas was raised in The Hague with an extensive Great American Songbook record collection and jazz on the radio. After a short career as a youth worker he followed his heart and chose to study singing at the Hilversum music academy. Jazz singer Deborah Brown teaches him a lot about the finer aspects of swing. His first trio album, called Pieces of Dreams was released in '94. Three years later This is New came out, another album with his trio, expanded into a small big band line-up. In From Bing to Sting, Douglas adds pop music to the mix while interpreting songs by Lionel Richie and Sting. But the fact that swing is still dear to him is apparent on his album Swing Works, which was released last year. It includes no-frills, swinging ballads and compelling up tempo pieces, performed by Douglas with Peter Nieuwerf on guitar, Rob van Kreeveld on piano, Ruud Jacobs on bass and Joost Patocka on drums. At North Sea Jazz, the vocalist will perform pieces from this album, on which he displays his perfect sense of timing.
