In short
Tom is one of the most appealing Dutch sax voices today. His classy and lyrical sax style has made him one of the most in-demand session players and sax soloists in the Dutch jazz, pop and fusion scene since the early 90's. Not only has he built an impressive resume as a sideman, he built a career as a leader and composer too, following his cds 'White & Blue' (2005), 'Live under the Sun' (2007) and 'Big Time' (2009), that received critical acclaim. Tom's first big break came around 1999 as a soloist with Michiel Borstlap, Karin Bloemen and Trijntje Oosterhuis. He also played with Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny and Randy Brecker. Currently, he is a featured soloist in many groups, including his own bands and projects. Tom worked with almost every artist in the country, and plays on more than 120 albums.


PHOTO: HANS SPEEKENBRINK

The early days
Tom grows up in the cities of Leiden and Leiderdorp (in between The Hague and Amsterdam). He checked out "almost every tune on the radio during the 70's and the 80's". In his teens, his musical horizon is also broadened by his brother's records: Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Queen, Genesis and The Eagles. His first attempt in convincing the world of his musical talents fails undisputedly at age 9, when Tom tries to recreate some famous Phil Collins drum breaks on a set of paper cans (as for washing powder). This experiment lasts for only 12 seconds, and logically his mother refuses to buy him a drum set.

Jazz
At 13 he gets fascinated by the saxophone. This time his mother fully supports his musical ambition and soon Tom is taking lessons (on an old Martin alto) with a local clarinet/sax player Bernhard Berkhout. This guy's record collection opens up a whole new world for Tom, who recalls hearing Gene Krupa's solo on 'Sing Sing Sing' as being "one of the most exciting things I ever heard", and soon he checks out all the records of Stan Getz, Benny Goodman, Paul Desmond and Ben Webster that he can get his hands on. From age 15, Tom spent most of his evenings drinking cola, eating peanuts and watching concerts in a local jazz club called The Duke, and soon he began to play at sessions himself. Gradually, Tom also switches from cola to beer and from peanuts to grass. At 17, he switches to a beautiful 1937 Conn Ladyface tenor, that he still plays today.

Inspiration
The dream of becoming a jazz musician is ignited by among others, these records: 'Someday my prince will come, 'Live a the Plugged Nickel' and 'Decoy' (Miles Davis), 'Saxophone Colossus' (Sonny Rollins), 'Heavy Weather' (Weather Report), 'Straphangin'' (Brecker Bros.), 'Steps' (Steps Ahead), 'Still Warm' (John Scofield), 'Straight from the heart' (David Sanborn) and 'Bring on the Night' (Sting). A strong influence from that time is sax player Toon Roos, whom Tom took some lessons with (although most of the lesson time actually was spent dancing and singing on records). One of the other highlights in Tom's adolescence, let's face it, was Marco van Basten kicking Holland into the European Soccer Championship in 1988.

On a mission
His hometown Leiden had a small, but very active and inspiring jazz community. Among them still are piano player Karel Boehlee and guitar player Martijn van Iterson, who are considered to be among the finest players in the country. Tom becomes friends with a lot of great musicians, he takes lessons and gets serious about music. This leads to the next step:

Conservatory
After finishing high school, he attends the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Later on, he switches to the Hilversum Conservatory (now Amsterdam), where he studies with Ferdinand Povel and Rob Madna. He's performing, practicing and playing almost every day and everywhere. In this period of time, Tom makes a giant leap in his musical growth. After cleaning up his life style, in 1995 (at age 25) he graduates in Hilversum with very high marks.

Of synths and Macs
Inspired by one of his heroes Michael Brecker, Tom decides to play the EWI in 1993. This is his point of departure in the world of synthesizers, computers and sound design. Building and his own collection of gear, he gets to play, write and produce a lot of AV-music (radio- and tv-commercials, tv-tunes etc.) in the following years. He still does.

FACTS, NameS and NUMBERS

Born
December 14, 1969 in Sittard (the Netherlands)

Education
1990-1992 Koninklijk Conservatory, Den Haag
1992-1995 Hilversums Conservatory, Hilversum

Instruments/functions
Tenor, alto and soprano sax, EWI, keyboards, programming. Composer, arranger, producer, leader, writer/lyricist. Label owner.

Jazz legends
Tom played with Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans (sax), and with Dutch jazz legends Wim Overgaauw, Rob Madna, Rita Reys, Ruud Jacobs, Jerry van Rooyen, Rob van Kreefeld, Greetje Kauffeld and Louis van Dijk.

Who's who?
Tom worked with Trijntje Oosterhuis, Do, Michiel Borstlap, Candy Dulfer, Hans Dulfer, Mathilde Santing, Alain Clark, John Ewbank, Cor Bakker, Tjeerd Oosterhuis, Hind, Pete Philly & Perquisite, Eric Vloeimans, Benjamin Herman, Bert van den Brink, Jesse van Ruller, Leona Phillippo, Frits Landesbergen, Laura Fygi, New Cool Collective, Berget Lewis, Boris Titulaer, Edsilia Rombley, Lucas van Merwijk, Madeline Bell, Denise Jannah, Carlo de Wijs, Amina Figarova, Marlayne, Esther Hart, Simone Roerade, Kim Hoorweg, Seven Eleven, the Jay Horns, the Stylus Horns, The Dutch Eagles, Young Sinatras, Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and lots, lots of others ..
(see more of the Dutch collaborations on the NL page).

Some facts
- played @ North Sea Jazz: 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.
- played for the Royal Family : 1998, 2000 and 2008.
- concerts and workshops in the following countries: USA, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, England, Luxemburg, Curacao, Oman, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Tunis, South-Africa.

Awards
1994 - winner VPRO Jazzprijs (Nemesis Quartet)
1994 - winner Heineken Crossover Award (All the King’s Men)
1995 - winner NCRV’s Popslag (All the King’s Men)
2004 - runner-up Deloitte Stimulans Award
2005 - runner-up Dutch Jazz Competition
2005 - winner "Best composition" Dutch Jazz Competition
2010 - winner Laren Jazz Award