Michiel Borstlap
Encyclopedia
Michiel Borstlap is a Dutch jazz pianist and composer.
Borstlap started playing piano at the age of 5 years.
In 1992 he finished his piano studies with Rob Madna and Henk Elkerbout at the Hilversum conservatoire and won first prize at the European Jazz Competition in Brussels. In 1994 he made his debut at the North Sea Jazz Festival
.
His first performances as a leader were in 1992 with his own sextet on the album Day Off . He has travelled worldwide with his own trio, sextet and as a soloist and played at numerous festivals.
In 1996 he won the Thelonious Monk
Composition Competition with "Memory of Enchantment", a composition which was later recorded by Herbie Hancock
and Wayne Shorter
on their album
1 + 1
. They played it on their world tours in 1997 and 2000, and (earlier) at the Monk competition.
In 1998 and 1999 he was nominated for the Bird Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival
.
In 1999 Borstlap received a contract with Verve Records. The first album was Body Acoustic an allusion to the Weather Report
album I Sing the Body Electric
: where Weather Report
tracks were newly interpreted with acoustic instruments, alongside Borstlap’s original compositions.
With his subsequently- named group “Body Acoustic” he played on "Verve Nights" at the jazz festivals of Umbria, Berlin or the North Sea Jazz Festival.
In 2003 he received a commission from the Emir of Qatar to compose an opera "Ibn Sina" (Avicenna) about Arabian history.
In 2000 he recorded a solo CD Piano - Solo Standards .
In 2001 Gramercy Park followed, consisting of three CDs taken from worldwide live recordings on which he shows his whole range and the influence of Bill Evans
, Keith Jarrett
and Chick Corea
in his playing.
He has worked with various international artists including Roy Hargrove
, Jimmy Haslip
, Les Paul
, James Genus
, Han Bennink
(as a part of a trio with Ernst Glerum), Ernst Reijseger
, Hans Dulfer
, Eric Vloeimans
, Toots Thielemans
, Jesse van Ruller, Ernie Watts
, Bill Bruford
, Jon Hendricks
, and Gino Vannelli
.
In 2004 he went on tour with Dutch singer Edsilia Rombley
and from 2000 on he has performed frequently with pop singer Trijntje Oosterhuis
.
Borstlap started playing piano at the age of 5 years.
In 1992 he finished his piano studies with Rob Madna and Henk Elkerbout at the Hilversum conservatoire and won first prize at the European Jazz Competition in Brussels. In 1994 he made his debut at the North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...
.
His first performances as a leader were in 1992 with his own sextet on the album Day Off . He has travelled worldwide with his own trio, sextet and as a soloist and played at numerous festivals.
In 1996 he won the Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
Composition Competition with "Memory of Enchantment", a composition which was later recorded by Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
and Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
on their album
1 + 1
1 + 1 (album)
-Personnel:*Herbie Hancock – piano, producer*Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone, producer...
. They played it on their world tours in 1997 and 2000, and (earlier) at the Monk competition.
In 1998 and 1999 he was nominated for the Bird Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival
North Sea Jazz Festival
The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...
.
In 1999 Borstlap received a contract with Verve Records. The first album was Body Acoustic an allusion to the Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
album I Sing the Body Electric
I Sing the Body Electric (album)
I Sing the Body Electric is the second album released by Weather Report from 1972. The album includes two new members of the band: percussionist Dom Um Romão and drummer Eric Gravatt. The last three tracks were recorded live in concert in Tokyo, Japan on January 13, 1972...
: where Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
tracks were newly interpreted with acoustic instruments, alongside Borstlap’s original compositions.
With his subsequently- named group “Body Acoustic” he played on "Verve Nights" at the jazz festivals of Umbria, Berlin or the North Sea Jazz Festival.
In 2003 he received a commission from the Emir of Qatar to compose an opera "Ibn Sina" (Avicenna) about Arabian history.
In 2000 he recorded a solo CD Piano - Solo Standards .
In 2001 Gramercy Park followed, consisting of three CDs taken from worldwide live recordings on which he shows his whole range and the influence of Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
, Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
and Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
in his playing.
He has worked with various international artists including Roy Hargrove
Roy Hargrove
Roy Anthony Hargrove is an American jazz trumpeter. He won worldwide notice after winning two Grammy Awards for differing types of music, in 1997, and in 2002...
, Jimmy Haslip
Jimmy Haslip
Jimmy Haslip is an American electric bass player and record producer best known as a founding and current member of the pioneering fusion group Yellowjackets...
, Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
, James Genus
James Genus
James Genus is an American jazz bassist. He plays both electric bass guitar and upright bass and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band. Genus has performed as a session musician and sideman throughout his career, with an impressive list of artists with whom he has worked.Genus was born...
, Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
(as a part of a trio with Ernst Glerum), Ernst Reijseger
Ernst Reijseger
ERNST REIJSEGER Cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger plays the cello from the age of seven and began as a performing cellist and improviser in 1969. From that time on he developed his own musical vocabulary...
, Hans Dulfer
Hans Dulfer
Hans Dulfer is a Dutch jazz musician who plays tenor saxophone.Hans Dulfer was born on 28 May 1940 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He began at age 17 and has been referred to as "Big boy" because of his album of the same name. At the end of the sixties he and Herbert Noord founded a quartet that...
, Eric Vloeimans
Eric Vloeimans
Eric Vloeimans is a Dutch jazz trumpeter.Vloeimans initially studied classical music at the Rotterdam Academy of Music...
, Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
, Jesse van Ruller, Ernie Watts
Ernie Watts
Ernest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...
, Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
, Jon Hendricks
Jon Hendricks
Jon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...
, and Gino Vannelli
Gino Vannelli
Gino Vannelli is an Italian-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician and composer.-Early years:Born in Montreal, Quebec, Vannelli is one of three sons born to Russ and Delia Vannelli. Russ, his father, was a big band musician. As a child, Gino's greatest passion was music, and he began playing...
.
In 2004 he went on tour with Dutch singer Edsilia Rombley
Edsilia Rombley
Edsilia Francisca Rombley is a Dutch singer. She participated in the Soundmixshow in 1996. She represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, in 1998 and 2007.-Biography:...
and from 2000 on he has performed frequently with pop singer Trijntje Oosterhuis
Trijntje Oosterhuis
Judith Katrijntje "Trijntje" Oosterhuis is a Dutch pop and jazz singer.-Early life:Judith Katrijntje Oosterhuis was born on 5 February 1973, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands...
.
Discography
- 1992 Michiel Borstlap Sextet - Day Off
- 1995 Michiel Borstlap Sextet - The Sextet Live 2CD
- 1997 Michiel Borstlap Trio – Residence
- 1999 Michiel Borstlap – Body Acoustic
- 2000 Michiel Borstlap – LiveLine
- 2001 Michiel Borstlap - Gramercy Park
- 2004 Michiel Borstlap – Piano Solo Standards
- 2004 Michiel Borstlap & Bill BrufordBill BrufordWilliam Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
– Live In Holland - 2004 Michiel Borstlap & Bill BrufordBill BrufordWilliam Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
– Every Step A Dance, Every Word A Song - 2005 Michiel Borstlap Trio – Coffee & Jazz
- 2008 Michiel Borstlap & Bill BrufordBill BrufordWilliam Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
– In Two Minds - 2008 Michiel Borstlap - Eldorado
- 2010 Michiel Borstlap - Solo 2010
- 2011 Michiel Borstlap Trio - Live at the Blues Alley (rec. 14.1.2010)