Podcast Episode Details

Jazz and the Upright Bass

In 1992 bassist Joris Teepe left his homeland – The Netherlands – to chase his dream of being a jazz musician in New York. He moved into a $300-per-month room in Manhattan. The room was so small that in the daytime the double bass occupied his bed, and Joris had to store it in the shower at night. 

He took lessons with Ron Carter, and a year later he recorded his first CD with a band co-led by tenor saxophonist Don Braden. The next six or seven years he found himself working with legends such as Benny Golson, Sonny Fortune, Billy Hart and Randy Brecker.

Up till now, Joris has recorded 22 albums as a leader or co-leader and over 65 as a sideman. His longest stint was with Rashied Ali (John Coltrane’s last drummer), with whom he recorded 5 albums and toured the world between 2000 and 2009. Among other ‘heavy cats’ that Joris performed and recorded with are Barry Harris, Bobby Watson, Tom Harrell, John Abercrombie, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman and Mike Clark, and Dutch masters such as John Engels (who toured with Chet Baker), Benjamin Herman, Eric Ineke and Rob van Bavel.