At the festival, guitarist Jesse van Ruller will be presenting his newest project Circles, his second album for the Criss Cross Jazz label. On this album he and tenor sax player Seamus Blake, organ player Sam Yahel and drummer Bill Stewart play the stars from the sky. Nearly all the compositions are Van Ruller's own. Flowing guitar lines are blended with a Hammond B3. For the performance at the festival Blake and Stewart will be replaced by, respectively, sax player Dick Oatts and drummer Martijn Vink. With his group, Van Ruller, in his own elegantly phrased and technically impeccable way, explores the straight-ahead jazz path. In 1995, Van Ruller was the first European to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington. Since then, he has made four albums as a leader, as well as a duo record with Maarten van der Grinten. In New York he and his trio, bass player Frans van der Hoeven and drummer Martijn Vink recorded the album Here and There. Jesse van Ruller is known for his active and skilled role as a sideman for various colleagues. He has accompanied singer Fleurine, played in groups led by pianist Michiel Borstlap and Piet Noordijk and formed the duo Van der & Van with guitarist Maarten van der Grinten. He also has an important share in the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw.
