Erik Vermeulen (born 15 October 1959 in Ypres, Belgium) is a Belgian jazz pianist. He entered the Belgian jazz scene when he was 22 with his trio. At the time, it featured Hein Van de Geyn on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and Dré Pallemaerts on drums. Soon after that, he started performing with different jazz bands and musicians including the Frank Vaganée Quartet, Erwin Vann Quartet and Peter Hertmans. He performed with international stars like

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, Steve Grossman, David Schnitter,

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

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Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

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and

Barre Phillips Barre Phillips (October 27, 1934 – December 28, 2024) was an American jazz double bass, bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. From 1972 he was based in southern France, where in ...

. He was often a soloist with the BRT jazz orchestra. In 1998, he represented Belgium in the European Radio Union Big Band in Stockholm. During his career, the musicians from his trio have changed: Jean-Louis Rassinfosse and Félix Simtaine, then Philippe Aerts and Dré Pallemaerts, Otti Van Der Werf and Eric Thielemans. Since 1995, Erik has toured and recorded with the following bands: Bart Defoort Quartet, Ben Sluijs Quartet, Manu Hermia Quartet and Marta Mus. Since 1995, he has been a member of the Ben Sluijs Quartet, with whom he recorded four CDs. The last one, ''Flying Circles'', is part of the CD box "The Finest in Belgian Jazz" (released on De Werf). In 1997, he recorded a CD with his band Icarus Consort (consisting of Erwin Vann, Pierre Bernard, Nicolas Thys and Stéphane Galland). The project emphasis is on

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

. Performing solo or in duo with Pierre Bernard, Daniel Stokart or Eric Thielemans, led to the founding of the "Groundwork" collective (2000). In 2001, he recorded his CD " Songs of Minutes" with Salvatore La Rocca and Jan De Haas. In the same year, he recorded the album ''Stones'' with Ben Sluijs and made recordings with the project "Rrauw" of Eric Thielemans, with Barre Philips and Jean-Yves Evrard. In 2002, he got to know Eric Surmenian (double bass) and Marek Patrman (drums). With this trio, he recorded ''Inner City'' from the CD box "The Finest in Belgian Jazz". These days, Erik Vermeulen is teaching jazz piano at the Antwerp and

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

conservatories. This is also where the piano duo "Antiduo" started with his then pupil

Seppe Gebruers Seppe Gebruers (born May 9, 1990) is a Belgian musician, composer and improvisor. He is also a teacher and researcher at KASK conservatory Ghent. Gebruers plays both solo and in bands. His work ranges from jazz to contemporary classical music. G ...

. They released two albums together: one in 2013 'antiduo' and one in 2017 Rorschach. On the latter, the duo was expanded to include the two drummers Eric Thielemans and Marek Patrman. In November 2003, he received the Belgian Golden Django for musician of the year.

Discographie

Erik Vermeulen Trio

*''Live Chroma'' (W.E.R.F., 2009) *''Inner City'' (W.E.R.F., 2002) *'' Songs of Minutes'' (W.E.R.F., 2000)

Seppe Gebruers and Erik Vermeulen

*''Antiduo'' (eNR, 2013) *''Rorschach'' (eNR, 2017) feat. Eric Thielemans and Marek Patrman

Ben Sluijs and Erik Vermeulen Duo

*''Decades'' (W.E.R.F., 2014) *''Parity'' (W.E.R.F., 2010) *''Stones'' (W.E.R.F., 2010)

References

External links

Jazz in Belgium biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vermeulen, Erik 1959 births Living people Musicians from Ypres Belgian jazz pianists 21st-century Belgian pianists