Eric Vloeimans February 22, 2010

Eric Vloeimans was born in 1963 in Huizen, The Netherlands, and grew up in Den Bosch. He quickly gained attention, first as an honors student at the Rotterdam Conservatory, then at the New School in NYC where he picked up gigs with the Frank Foster Big Band and a US tour with the Duke Ellington Band conducted by Mercer Ellington. Since 1989 he has been active in a wide variety of ensembles and as a group leader and is now widely regarded as one of Europe's best performers.

Vloeimans has won numerous awards including the Dutch Edison Award four times, the Elly Ameling Prize of the City of Rotterdam, the prestigious Bird Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival, and the most important jazz prize in The Netherlands - The Boy Edgar Prize. He has toured worldwide and performed at festivals including those of Rotterdam, Sibiu, Athens, Dansko, Oslo, Paris, Budapest, Viersen, Frankfurt, Roma, Montpellier, St. Petersburg, Budapest, Essen, Wien, Kosice, Berlin, Johannesburg, North Sea, and Bangkok, among others.

Vloeimans’ compositions are fresh, expressive and powerful, not restricted to one particular style, and he has created an evocative, harmonic language of his own. In addition, he has mastered the complete range of the trumpet, from the energy laden high notes to the soft, velvety, almost wooden sounds, and he does not shy away from playing beautifully.

His trio "Fugimundi" with Anton Goudsmit and Harmen Fraanje can be likened to chamber music of an adventurous kind - jazz, lounge, pop. It’s quite original while respecting the classics. The confluence of highly talented individuals that enjoy playfulness is like kids doing summersaults on the beach.
Or jumping in the deep end with gusto, imagination, and curiosity as to where the journey will lead, and yet sure of the beauty encountered along the way, and sweeping the audience along with them.

Vloeimans is featured on a total of 12 CDs as a leader and numerous others as a sideman. His new CD "Hyper" with his quartet "Gatecrash" out in the US in October 2008 on Challenge Records is a testament to his creative powers.

"I was amazed at the strength of Eric's writing and playing. He was an inspiration and led the date with creative imagination. It was a pleasure to record with him. The music reveals what is best in the art of improvised music; thoughtful structures that allow the sensitivity of the musicians to come together to create something special and unique, that had never been before." — Marc Johnson

Guitarist Anton Goudsmit is a much sought-after player who does amazing things with whatever music he is presented with or writes. In 2001 Anton formed the Ploctones to perform a series of his compositions commissioned by Dutch NPS Radio.
In 2004 a Goudsmit organized a live CD recording of the Ploctones at the Jazz op het Dak festival which was featured on VPRO television. Since then the Ploctones have emerged as a very creative and innovative group, capable of combining grooves and improvisation.

Pianist Harmen Fraanje, born in 1976 in Roosendaal, The Netherlands, is active in the international jazz scene, playing with some of the finest musicians in Europe. On a tireless quest for creativity, new collaborations and new horizons, he has developed an authentic voice, a very honest personal approach towards music. Open to all kinds of music - from classical music, to improvisation, from centuries-old Pygmy chants to Duke Ellington with John Coltrane - he is always trying to embody the music, to be able to speak in his own unique language.

"It is always delightful to see trumpet player Eric Vloeimans at work. Whether he performs at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague or plays in a pub, you will not be bored for a minute. He is flashy when need be, but can also give one note so much soul that you're moved.” — Eddy Determeyer, JAZZ NU

“The Eric Vloeimans Quartet leaves the audience gasping for breath.”
 — Toon Kessels, Eindhovens Dagblad

“One of the great surprises of the entire weekend was the performance by trumpeter Eric Vloeimans' group Fugimundi…They played with a high-wire sense of adventure and such an infectious spirit of joy that it made the 21-piece Columbian salsa orchestra that followed them seem anti-climactic.”
— Larry Appelbaum, JazzTimes

Holland’s award-winning trumpet sensation Eric Vloeimans brings his joyous and compelling music to the US for the first time in a tour with his band featuring Vloeimans with guitarist Anton Goudsmit and pianist Harmen Fraanje.

Official Website: http://yoshis.com