Jef Neve & Pascal Schumacher + Jef Neve Trio
@ the PizzaExpress Jazz Club
19 November 2011

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Jef Neve biography

Jef Neve was born in Belgium on March 8, 1977. He studied at the Lemmensinstituut in Louvain, and took master classes with Guy de Mey, Brad Mehldau, Martial Solal, Lew Tabackin, Toots Thielemans, Billy Hart, Bill Carothers, Kenny Werner and Bruce Barth. In 2000 Neve graduated with Master of Music degrees in Jazz and classical piano, both with great distinction. In 2001 he specialised in Chamber Music and was awarded 'cum laude'.

Next to his musical education, Neve started to play in local bands at the age of fourteen. He composed a wide variety of pieces for the most divergent ensembles (from piano solo to symphonic orchestra). From seventeen-twenty he played with the popular funk band Mr. Zebedee.

As a freelance pianist Neve performed with various jazz bands, classical ensembles and pop bands including Belgian boy band f.ex. Get Ready. Neve also performed in theatre productions, studio sessions and solo performances with the Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Michel Tilkin). As a jazz musician he worked with Dré Pallemaerts, Paolo Fresu and Lindsey Horner.

In 2002 Neve worked for a year as a pianist and composer for the Contemporary Dathe Dance Company in London. In 2003 his debut album “Blue Saga” was released on the Contour label to critical acclaim.

Neve’s second album “It’s Gone” (Contour, November 2004) is Belgium’s best selling jazz album to date. “It’s Gone” received the prestigious Radio Klara prize for Best International Jazz Album in 2005. Neve signed with Universal Music Belgium and released his third album; “Nobody is Illegal in November 2006.

In 2005/6 the Jef Neve Trio performed a large number of concerts and several international festivals including Athens International Jazz, Blue Note Festival, Festival van Vlaanderen, Middelheim Jazz, Jazz à Liège, Audi Jazz Festival, Mexico Eurojazz festival and the Wiltz International Festival.

Parallel to his fast growing activity as jazz artist, Jef Neve prepared the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach during the year 2005, which he has performed several times in the spring of 2006 and 2007. Neve also wrote the soundtrack for the movie “Dagen Zonder Lief”, which was released March 2007.

Pascal Schumacher biography

Pascal Schumacher, born in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and currently
living and working in Luxembourg and Brussels, is a confirmed representative of the new generation of jazz musicians and holds masters degrees in musicology of the University “Marc Bloch” of Strasbourg (F) and in jazz music at the Koninklijk Conservatorium of The Hague (NL).

He is a composer, vibraphone player and bandleader of his own 4tet. He surrounds himself with the strongly talented German piano player Franz von Chossy (living and working in Amsterdam) and with the excellent rhythm section composed of the Belgian double bass player Christophe Devisscher and the German drummer Jens Düppe. Up to now the band was playing on 5 continents and in many countries reaching the hearts of thousands of people. The 4tet released three albums for IGLOO Records: Change Of The Moon (2004), Personal Legend (2005), and Silbergrau (2007). In April 2009 the fourth album Here we Gong is released on the prestigious label ENJA Records from Munich.

Schumacher is further co leading a Duo with Jef Neve (Universal Music Artist) a real acrobatic poet on the grand piano. Neve was, until June 2008, as well a member of the Pascal Schumacher 4tet and contributed largely to the success of the band.

Since 2003, Schumacher orientates himself more and more towards composition and writes for film, theatre, dance, chamber music, children, Big band and percussion ensembles.

In august 2004, Pascal Schumacher Quartet won the First Prize as well as the Public Prize at the famous Tremplin Jazz Avignon (F) and in November 2005, he won the Belgian Django d’Or Award in the category “New Talent”.

In February 2006, Pascal Schumacher Quartet’s Personal Legend was selected “Disque du jour” on the French jazz radio station TSF 89,9.

In January 2007, the band was invited by the Luxembourg ministry of culture to play a show case at the world music fare (Midem) in Cannes in the hotel Majestic and Schumacher was further a nominee at the European Django d’Or Awards in December of the same year.

In summer 2008, Pascal Schumacher was selected for the 2009-2010 “Rising Stars” program organised by the European Concert Hall Organization (ECHO) grouping together the most famous concert halls in Europe.

Pascal Schumacher is an appointed teacher at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg and gave clinics and workshops in the conservatories of Sydney, Canberra (AUS), Hanoi (VIE), Antwerp (B) and Echternach (L).