It’s an important year for the Grand Old Lady of Dutch jazz, Rita Reys. Recently she celebrated her 80th birthday with a special concert. She recorded a new CD Beautiful Love – Tribute to Pim and her auto-biography Rita Reys, Lady Jazz was published. In that book Reys talks about her youth, her life in music, the successes and the passing away of her husband. The singer, who started her professional career at sixteen, shared the stage with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Art Blakey and Duke Ellington. Her Dutch debut on vinyl was in 1955 with Jazz Behind The Dikes. Reys played and recorded mostly with her husband Pim Jacobs en Wessel Ilcken. The CD, an homage to her husband who passed away in 1996, was recorded last year with Rita’s brother in law Ruud Jacobs (bass), Peter Beets (piano) and Bird-winner Martijn van Iterson (guitar). Those guys will accompany her at the festival, joined by Ferdinand Povel and Joost Patocka.
