Dick de Graaf

Tenor-and soprano-saxophonist Dick de Graaf debuted 1986 with his acclaimed LP ‘Hot, hazy and humid’ (Limetree Records). Earlier he had won the Dutch Jazz Competition in 1981 and he had presented himself as a striking soloist in the Amstel Octet, in John Clayton’s Tribute Big Band, Jeff Reynold’s Maiden Voyage Big Band and in the Frank Grasso Big Band.

Dick has performed at many national and international jazzstages ever since. He played with a.o. Chet Baker, Misha Mengelberg, Jasper van ’t Hof, Kenny Weeler, Tom Harrell, Benny Golson, Billy Hart, Toumani Diabaté, Jeremy Monteiro and Erkan Ogur and toured festivals and clubs in Europe, South and West Africa, the USA, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, USA, Taiwan and Canada.

As a bandleader, composer, arranger and self-managing artist dedicated to jazz – in his definition “a host of elements from all kinds of music that surrounds us”- Dick de Graaf recorded and produced more than 25 CD’s that received positive response by both public and press.

His docARTES doctoral defense took place on November 21, 2017 at Leiden University.