Harmen Fraanje Explained

Harmen Fraanje
Landscape:yes
Birth Date:1976 1, df=yes
Birth Place:Roosendaal, Netherlands
Origin:Dutch
Occupations:Musician, composer
Instrument:Piano
Genre:Jazz
Label:ECM, Winter & Winter, Challenge Records, Cristal Records

Harmen Fraanje (born 23 January 1976 in Roosendaal, Netherlands) is a Dutch jazz pianist and composer. He currently lives in Amsterdam.[1] [2]

Career

Harmen Fraanje is a pianist, composer, and educator from the Netherlands, currently based in Amsterdam. He leads and co-leads several projects like his solo project, trio Reijseger Fraanje Sylla, a duo with Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen, a trio with Finnish musicians Aino Peltomaa on voice and Mikko Perkola on viola da gamba and effects, and a quartet with Magic Malik, Brice Soniano and Toma Gouband. These groups mostly perform original works with a lot of space for improvisation.

Harmen is also very active as a sideman in various projects in the European jazz scene, like the Mats Eilertsen Trio, Eric Vloeimans’ Fugimundi trio with Anton Goudsmit, and Michael Moore’s Fragile Quartet. With these projects, he frequently performs at festivals and concert venues throughout the world. Recordings of the projects he’s involved in have been released by renowned record labels like ECM, Winter & Winter, Outhere Music, Hubro Music, Challenge Jazz...

Harmen collaborated with the likes of Ambrose Akinmusire, Mark Turner, Kenny Wheeler, Arve Henriksen, Thomas Morgan, Tony Malaby, Han Bennink, Ernst Reijseger, Trygve Seim, Jesse van Ruller, Magic Malik, Nelson Veras, Theo Bleckmann, Ben Monder, Enrico Rava, Werner Herzog, Trio Mediaeval, Hein van de Geyn, Perico Sambeat, Igor Roma, Louis Moholo, Ferenc Kovács, Rudi Mahall, Cristina Branco.

Harmen is chairman of the Jazz Piano Faculty at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam / University of the Arts Amsterdam. He is also frequently invited to give workshops and masterclasses at other European conservatories.

Honors

Discography

Solo albums

Within Harmen Fraanje Quartet
Within Harmen Fraanje Quintet
Within Harmen Fraanje Trio

Collaborations

Trio including Eric Vloeimans and Anton Goudsmit
Within Mats Eilertsen Trio

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Harmen Fraanje . Biography . MuziekEncyclopedie.nl . 2015-08-01.
  2. Web site: Harmen Fraanje . Biography . . 2014-12-01.