As one of the most sought-after jazz artists of our time, PETER BEETS has attracted a devoted international audience, performing regularly at major jazz festivals and venues throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. He has shared the stage with jazz greats such as Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Toots Thielemans and Benny Golson.
From birth, Peter was surrounded by music: classical from his mother who is a music pedagogue, and jazz from his father who instilled in his son his own great love of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey. His brothers Marius and Alexander also became professional musicians, double bass and tenor saxophone respectively. Since 1985, the brothers have performed together as The Beets Brothers.
In 1988 Peter was awarded the prestigious Pall Mall Swing Award, and a year later the Princess Christina Award. In 1998 he completed his conservatory studies, winning the Prix Martial Solal in Paris. In the same year, he became the featured pianist with The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. The following year, he was also awarded the Concours de Solistes de Jazz in Monaco.
In 2001 the Criss Cross label invited Peter for a series of albums with his New York Trio, inviting artists like Willie Jones III, Larry Grenadier and Greg Hutchinson, earning him international acclaim.
In 2010 Peter was awarded an Edison (Dutch equivalent of the Grammy) for the album Blues for the Date, with his original compositions, accompanied by The Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw. In 2013, Peter recorded his long-awaited tribute album to one of his biggest idols, Oscar Peterson and in 2015 he made a recording out of a live performance of his Chopin arrangements.
His 2018 live recording of Django Reinhardt compositions with a gypsy jazz trio including Stochelo Rosenberg is seen by many as a historical performance. A year later world class record producer Ruud Jacobs brought about Peter’s new trio recording called ‘Our Love Is Here to Stay – Gershwin Reimagined’.
Besides his continuous work on playing in trio setting, Peter founded a big band with young professionals, called the New Jazz Orchestra. Peter writes new music for this orchestra, arrangements based on classical music. Legendary bass player John Clayton invited Peter to play at the San Diego jazzfestival in 2020, but Covid spoiled this momentum. Instead, John Clayton traveled to Europe in 2022 to meet and play together with Peter, as well as with his New Jazz Orchestra.
In 2021 Peter accepted an invitation to play Rhapsody in Blue, the finger busting piano concerto by George Gershwin, with a large symphony orchestra. Although Peter is not a classical pianist, he accepted the challenge to play this iconic piece, on the condition that he can interpretate it his own way. The recordings are on YouTube.
In the summer of 2023 Peter’s trio went into the recording studio to celebrate their great love of classical music. This album, titled ‘Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and all that Jazz!’ features works by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. The album receives tremendous praise. Peter’s trio will be featured at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2024 and they are also invited to play in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore.
