Tonight saxophonist and composer Marike van Dijk proudly presents her Amsterdam Art Orchestra. In this newly founded big band we recognize leading European players such as Tineke Postma and Jasper Blom, and young talent like Ella Zirina and Suzan Veneman. The AmAO focuses on playing adventurous and new big band music, mainly composed by its members. Marike van Dijk founded the band with the aim of creating an original sound, as well as supporting young women in jazz. This led to a striking formation with a majority of women.
Following her studies in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Marike van Dijk left for New York. There she was educated at the renowned Manhattan School of Music and granted a scholarship to New York University, where she studied with pianist and arranger Gil Goldstein. About his former pupil and her album The Stereography Project, Goldstein said: ‘Marike’s writing has an organic quality; balanced and seeming to find ratios and combinations that are based in nature. I find her music very intuitive and feel that she has great honesty. This record will be just another step in a long career of composing.’
Tineke Postma, Marike van Dijk, Jasper Blom, Jessie Brevé, Wies van Toledo saxophone, Shannon Barnett, Juliane Gralle, Louk Boudesteijn, Vincent Veneman trombone, Suzan Veneman, Ellister van der molen, Alvaro Jimenez, Diederik Rijpstra trumpet, Ella Zirina guitar, Franz von Chossy piano, Anne Mette Iversen bass, Mareike Wiening drums.