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Dirk was born in 1965 in Oberhausen, Germany, and started to play piano at the age of 6. He is an
active member of the European jazz scene and his talent has taken him to many countries including
Jamaica, France, Spain, Romania, Germany, Belgium, Slovenia, Scotland, England, Turkey, and the USA. He has performed on stage with: Ack van Rooyen, Benny Baily, Lee Konitz, Lew Tabackin, Dale Barlow, Clarence Becton, John Engels, Herb Geller, Ben Herman, Jack Parnell, Bud Shank, Eric Vloeimans and many more. Through his teacher Wolfgang Schwering (church organ) he came in contact with improvised music. At the age of 15 he discovered jazz in Kuro's Jazzkeller, a club in his hometown Oberhausen. There he heard pianist Peter Walter from Essen, whose lessons had a big influence on Dirk. He spent many hours listening to the music of Miles and Monk, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday, John Scofield, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and other great players from jazz history. |
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After completing high school and civil service he moved the Netherlands to study jazz piano at
the
Conservatory in Hilversum. His teachers include Frans Elsen, Henk Elkerbout and Rob Madna. After finishing conservatory in 1991, Dirk moved to Amsterdam where he immersed himself in full-fledged jazzdom: listening to and playing as much jazz as possible. In 1994, with Bert Lochs (trumpet/flugelhorn), Sven Schuster (bass) and Steve Altenberg (drums) he formed a quartet and recorded his first CD 'tales of the frog'. This was the first of many. Sinds 1994 he teaches piano at the conservatory in Osnabrück, Germany. He plays and composes for his Trio and the band "JuzzFlirtin" with American vocalist Léah Kline. He is a permanent member of Joan Reinder's Millennium Jazz Orchestra. On Saturday afternoons you can find him sometimes playing in the Cottonclub in Amsterdam. In 2006 Dirk founded the Jazz record label Hi5 Records whose first projects are the recording and release of the CD's "Gershwin" "JuzzFlirtin" and "Amsterdam Jam". |
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