Ilse Huizinga (October 15, 1966) is a Dutch singer, considered one of the most distinguished of a new generation of jazz singers. From the very beginning of her career, media and audiences have spoken highly of her interpretations of the Great American Songbook. Numerous articles, interviews and appearances on radio and television followed and connected her to a diverse and broad audience. She performs in many countries in Europe.
Ilse Huizinga |
|---|
History
Ilse Huizinga was born in Beverwijk, The Netherlands in October 1966. It was an old piano given to her at the age of six, which first drew Ilse to music. Subsequently she fell in love with the allure of old Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday and Abbey Lincoln albums, her fascination further caught when she watched Betty Carter sing at the North Sea Jazz Festival.
A graduate in Public Administration, she regularly took part in open mike nights at the notorious jazz club Casablanca, in the heart of Amsterdam's Red Light District. However, music did not feature heavily on her career ladder until she finished a Management degree at Amsterdam University. Ilse studied at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, including master classes by Dianne Reeves. She has toured in Spain, Turkey, Switzerland and France, and regularly performs in the United Kingdom. A winner of the Schiedam Jazz Award, she has represented Holland at the international jazz festival in Vienne, France.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines selected Ilse's debut album Out Of A Dream for its in-flight entertainment programme. On Voices Within she skilfully recorded her own voice five times, resulting according to critics "some of the best close harmony for decades". Her third album The Sweetest Sounds was voted Album of the Week on Dutch radio and can regularly be heard on specialist jazz radio stations across Europe. Following an informal debut at Ronnie Scott's, she recently thrilled audiences at Amsterdam's world-famous Concertgebouw.
In 2001 Ilse Huizinga recorded an album exclusively devoted to the songs of Richard Rodgers, entitled The Sweetest Sounds. It was met with instant acclaim by the critics and nominated for Holland's most prestigious music award, the Edison.
There are several albums on Daybreak Records that are highly regarded by critics, Voices Within, shows a multi-vocal side to Ilse's talent, The Sweetest Sounds is an acclaimed 2001 highlight, whilst The Intimate Sessions - Volume 1 was recorded specifically to meet demand in Japan. Easy to Idolize and Beyond Broadway find Ilse on form in selections of the Great American Songbook, accompanied by a stellar lineup of European jazz musicians.
Collaborations with other Jazz artists
Ilse's most celebrated collaboration is with her husband, the pianist, composer and arranger Erik van der Luijt. Together they made eight albums to date and continue to perform live around the globe.
Other notable collaborations include double bass player Sven Schuster, percussionist Frits Landesbergen en legendary double bass player Ruud Jacobs, who is said to have been talked out of retirement for Huizinga's 1999 album Voices Within. It was Jacobs who suggested dubbing Huizinga's voice to create a unique close harmony sound on this album.
Television and radio appearances
Huizinga made numerous guest appearances on European radio and television shows. Her albums are frequently played on Jazz Radio Berlin, Swiss Radio Jazz, the BBC and Dutch radio.
Personal life
Ilse Huizinga lost her father to cancer at the age of 14. She met the pianist, composer and arranger Erik van der Luijt when they both played at the international jazz festival in Vienne, France. They married in Leiden in 1998. Their daughter Ellen was born in 2000.
Erik van der Luijt
Erik van der Luijt (born August 22, 1970 in The Hague, The Netherlands) studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, where he played in master classes with Michael Petrucciani, Pat Metheny and Barry Harris. He regularly accompanies and supports Madeline Bell, Denise Jannah, B.B. King, Toots Thielemans and other musicians of international standing at concerts and festivals. As a pianist, arranger and producer Erik has contributed to numerous projects, including the Metropole Symphony Orchestra, musical and cabaret productions and CDs by leading Dutch jazz musicians.
Discography
- Out of a Dream (1997)
- Voices Within (1999)
- Erik van der Luijt - En Blanc Et Noir 2 (1999)
- The Sweetest Sounds - Ilse Huizinga Sings the Songs of Richard Rodgers (2001)
- Easy to Idolize (2003)
- Beyond Broadway (2005)
- The Intimate Sessions - Volume 1 (2006)
Samples
- Download sample of the 2005 album "Beyond Broadway"
Awards, Citations and Honors
- Schiedam Jazz Award
- Edison, Nomination (2001)
Quotations
- "Ilse Huizinga... a superb vocal treat." Emyr Williams, BBC Radio
- "Ilse Huizinga is likely to take Europe by storm, maybe by hurricane" - Florian Stenschke, Jazz Radio Berlin
- "Ilse really dares to let herself go, approaching everything with remarkable ease and above all with a consistently wonderful jazzy sound." - Kees Polling, Trouw
- "Huizinga has a powerful, mature - and above all also warm and beautiful - voice which is superbly versatile. She bends and stretches it to her liking. A tender ballad or an upbeat song; either she shows to their full advantage. Fearlessly, she encounters her vocal boundaries. Ilse combines guts with innovation, dances right on key across half interval runs and presents the lyrics with such integrity, such conviction that she has already captured the listener's ear. In this self assurance great singers distinguish themselves from the endless numbers of so-called great talents" - Jan Rensen, De Gooi- en Eemlander
- "Very promising. Her wordless introduction to the song 'The old country' sounds so magnificent, it's like an angel descending from heaven. Ilse's voice is perfect. Her delivery is exceptional in the way she treats dots and comma's in an unexpected manner..." - Ruud Kuyper, Algemeen Dagblad
- "With this second production the singer and the pianist/arranger manage, if anything, to amaze even more. The warm, sexy voice and the once again outstanding selection of tried and tested standards can be enjoyed in yet another new approach. Ilse has ingeniously dubbed her own voice and this has resulted in sublime multi-vocal jazz. The intro for five voices of 'Almost like being in love' is comparable to the best close harmony since the legendary Singers Unlimited, who gained a reputation in the Seventies using the very same technique." - Imme Schade van Westrum, AVRO Radio
- "A singer with a wonderful voice, a wonderful band and wonderful arrangements. Ilse has an instantly recognisable sound, very full, very convincing" - Jeroen de Valk, Het Parool
- "Ilse Huizinga has a very pleasant presentation and a beautiful voice with an outstanding technique and diction. Moreover, she dares to take chances. Upbeat or slow songs, songs that seem easy or songs that require some virtuosity; she handles all with remarkable ease" - Trouw
- "All the hallmarks of an international diva in the making" - Armand Serpenti, Trouw
- "A nightingale with a golden voice. She sings sensual jazz with a modern tinge" - Cosmopolitan
- "A voice of which other singers only dream; full, clear and sensitive. With this golden voice she sings the wonderful arrangements of Erik van der Luijt" - Nouveau
- "A singer with a marvellous, beautiful voice and an interpretation all her own" - Marie Claire
- "Wonderful repertoire, great arrangements, excellent musicians and a singer with a beautiful, strong voice" - Greetje Kauffeld
- "Ilse Huizinga is an astonishing jazz talent" - Willem Duys, AVRO Radio
- "One of the strongest of the new generation of Dutch jazz singers. In the title song we get genuine coloratura, in This can't be love she manages to fit entire octaves into a single syllable - great that the poignant lyrics meanwhile never suffer." - De Volkskrant
- "Clear and pitch-perfect voice, an original colouring of Rodgers' songs" - De Gooi- en Eemlander
- "Ilse adds a whole new magic to the songs of Rodgers." - Elegance
- "Delicious late-night listening" - Expatplus
- "Beautiful and flexible voice, wonderful arrangements" - Tubantia