In what is billed as the Saxophone Summit, Alan Skidmore will join alto and soprano saxophonist Tineke Postma and alto player Benjamin Herman in a series of concerts in the Netherlands during late February and early March. Alan is delighted to be reunited with the pianist Rein de Graaff’s superb trio with Marius Beets on bass and Eric Ineke on drums with whom he has enjoyed many gigs over the years. The two young saxophone partners in this series are also highly accomplished performers.

Tineke Postma studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music in New York. She has played with Greg Osby, Geri Allen, Scott Colley and Terri Lyne Carrington and has released six CDs to date. In 2015 she was awarded the Boy Edgar Prize the top award for jazz musicians in the Netherlands.

In a similar pathway Benjamin Herman studied at Hilversum Conservatory before going to the Manhattan School of Music. His musical career has involved founding the New Cool Collective an eight-piece band with soul, jazz and Latin influences. He is also a recipient of the Boy Edgar Prize in 2003 and has some 20 albums with the New Cool Collective and a similar number as leader of a variety of small groups.

Dates so far announced are Bimhuis Amsterdam on Saturday 3 March at 20:30 and

Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht on Sunday 4 March at 16:00

Others will be added as they are announced but these are bound to be memorable concerts with Alan’s brilliant tenor playing added to two talented younger players and a trio that has backed Alan on numerous occasions. There’s no better excuse for a quick trip to Amsterdam and/or one of the Netherlands’ hidden gems the wonderful city of Utrecht.