Ben van Gelder is one of the young Dutch alto saxophonists who have strengthened the foundations of their music in New York. Van Gelder's 1988 concert is part of the Global Brooklyn N.Y. theme at the North Sea Jazz Festival. After graduating from the Amsterdam Conservatory, he studied for three years in New York, where his teachers included Lee Konitz, Mark Turner, George Garzone and Jimmy Halperin. Van Gelder is well established on the New York music scene, but he also regularly appears on stages in the Netherlands, including the Concertgebouw, Bimhuis and the North Sea Jazz Festival. In 2008, he won the prestigious Deloitte Jazz Award. He is currently working on a new album with drummer Nasheet Waits and bass player Ben Street. Van Gelder is appearing at this year's North Sea Jazz Festival with Aaron Parks who released his much talked about debut album Invisible Cinema on Blue Note last year.
