Eric Vloeimans (Huizen, 1963) is an improvising trumpeter and composer who regards the term ‘jazz’ as too limiting to describe his music. His work is characterized by melodic and lyrical power, and a distinctive, individual sound that is called velvety or whispering in the more subdued pieces.
From 2006/2007 Eric Vloeimans has been active with two much-praised formations: the chamber jazz trio Fugimundi (Anton Goudsmit guitar, Harmen Fraanje piano) and the electric band Gatecrash, in which rock and funk elements can be traced (Jeroen van Vliet keyboards, Gulli Gudmundsson bass, Jasper van Hulten drums). With the latter group, he employs electronic effects in his trumpet playing for the first time.
In addition, he continues to develop other projects, such as the band Oliver’s Cinema with accordion player Tuur Florizoone and cellist Jörg Brinkmann (CD available from August 2013, and a US tour in October 2014)) , and a duo with pianist Florian Weber, with a CD release : Live at the Concertgebouw in 2011.
His broad range of interests has led Vloeimans to collaborate with artists from other musical worlds. In the pop music area, these include Fay Lovsky, Doe Maar, Spinvis, Jan Akkerman and trumpeter Kyteman (Colin Benders). Where world music is concerned, Vloeimans was involved in projects with flamenco guitarist Eric Vaarzon Morel, Latin pianist Ramon Valle, and the fado-inspired Pessoa of Fernando Lameirinhas.
Vloeimans has performed as a soloist with classical ensembles such as the Matangi Quartet, the Calefax Reed Quintet, the Metropole Orchestra, the Gelderland Orchestra, the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, the Holland Baroque Society, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
2011 saw the premiere of his first trumpet concerto, Evensong, with the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, orchestrated by Martin Fondse, and recorded for CD with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.

Young, classically trained string players with big, wide open ears have greatly enriched Dutch improvised music in the past years. One of them is the German cellist Jörg Brinkmann (1976), who has studied at the Arnhem conservatory. Just like the members of the ZAPP! string quartet, whom he frequently plays with, he get his inspiration from anywhere; for him the ‘jazz’ label is also too limiting. Brinkmann is equally capable of making essential contributions to pop bands, theatre orchestras or chamber music ensembles. Building on the technical innovations of improvising jazz musicians, he can deploy his cello as a (rhythm) guitar, or as a bass that lays down funk accents or swings in four-four time. When he colors the sound of his instrument with electronics, it’s done in a subtle and tasteful way. In his playing and his compositions a perfect fusion takes place of structure and personal variations, of cleanly bowed lyricism and lively rhythms, in which he doesn’t shy away from unusual time signatures either.
His musical character is faithfully expressed in his own trio with pianist Oliver Maas and percussionist Dirk-Peter Kölsch, with whom he recorded the album Ha! for ACT. In addition, he’s worked with Martin Fondse’s Starvinsky Orkestar, Michiel Braam’s Bik Bent Braam and many other adventurous jazz soloists.