Once in a while someone turns up in whom all strengths are combined. Joris Roelofs is this type of person, a brilliantly talented saxophone player with a terrifically groovy, frivolous style who will go far with the right schooling and experiences, that's for sure. He's still young but already has quite the musical resume, on which his work as the steady reserve for the New Cool Collective Big band and the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw figures prominently. At the tender age of thirteen, Roelofs was discovered by Peter Guidi, who immediately offered him a spot in his Jazzmania Big Band. Last January, Roelofs was the first European to be selected by the IAJE for the Cliffor Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship, which allowed him to perform at the IAJE conference in Toronto with a group of the best young musicians from all over the world. His own quartet, with whom he will be making his debut at North Sea Jazz, consists of the extremely versatile pianist Karel Boehlee, drummer Flin Hemmen and bass player Clemens van der Feen. As a duo with the latter, Roelofs won the jazz prize at the Prinses Christina Concours last year.
