Piet Noordijk

Piet Noordijk ( born May 26, 1932 in Rotterdam, † 9 October, 2011 Hellevoetsluis ) was a Dutch alto saxophonist of modern jazz.

Life and work

From 1950 to 1954 he studied at the Conservatory of Rotterdam clarinet and taught himself to play the saxophone at ( his idol was Charlie Parker). With his brother Kees, he played in the 1950s in jazz clubs; after his military service he performed in Germany in the American clubs. 1956 brought him Wessel Ilcken to his All-Stars. He accompanied, inter alia, the singers Nina Simone, Rita Reys and Betty Carter and played between 1963-1967 in a quartet with Misha Mengelberg and approached the Free Jazz (from 1975 there was Reunions this quartet ). Since his appearance at the Festival Jazz à Juan 1965, he was recognized internationally; In 1966 he joined with Mengelberg at the Newport Jazz Festival. Then he spieltw with Cees Slinger, Pim Jacobs, Toots Thielemans, Lee Konitz, Wynton Marsalis, Willem Breuker, Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon. From the mid- 1960s he was also a saxophonist in the big band of Boy Edgar from 1978 to 1992 he was the first alto saxophonist at the Metropole Orkest. Only in 1980 he played a first album under his own name with the title Loverman.

Most recently, he has appeared with its own quartet and played regularly at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Prizes and awards

In 1958 and 1959 he was awarded the Leserpoll the Dutch jazz magazine Rhythme as the best alto saxophonist. In 1965 he received the Wessel Ilcken price. In 1987, he won the Bird Award. As the first jazz musicians him 2008 Blijvend applause Prijs was granted. In the same year he was awarded for his life's work the Edison Jazz Award.