BIOGRAFIE

Jazzed to the Max was set up by and after an idea of Eva Baggerman. This idea was conceived during her study jazz singing at the Music Academy in The Hague, The Netherlands, where she first started arranging music for five vocalists and three accompanists. This line-up and the arrangements proved a big success. In 1997 Eva Baggerman and Mirjam Verheem put together a vocal-group of three female and two male singers, a pianist, a bass player and a drummer. This band was called Jazzed to the Max and it quickly developed into a group that because of the excellent vocalists, outstanding instrumentalists and the original arrangements came to stay on the Dutch stages.

The combination of five vocalists accompanied by three instrumentalists enables the group to offer a wide range of colour, varying from instrumentalism to a capella, from close harmony to solo singing. The vocal reach of over four octaves, the clarity and flexibility of their voices are typical of the sound of Jazzed to the Max.

Their singing makes one think of The Manhattan Transfer. Their extensive arrangements with room for vocal as well as instrumental improvisation reminds us of the New York Voices whereas the trendy harmonies and surprising turns show an influence of Take Six.

Jazzed to the Max' repertory is jazz in a broad sense of the word: standards, swing, Afro-jazz, modern jazz, salsa. Besides Eva Baggerman' arrangements Jazzed to the Max performs work by arrangers and composers who wrote especially for them.

The individual activities of the vocalists vary from classical and modern music to musical theatre. This wide range of activities contributes to endless possibilities when it comes to presentation and harmony. Well-known names that members of Jazzed to the Max have worked with are, among others, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Berget Lewis, Pat Metheny, Karin Bloemen, The Metropole Orchestra, Ferry Corsten, Candy Dulfer, Freek de Jonge and Zuco 103.

Esmée Stotijn was taught the violin by her father Dick Bor. Later she studied contemporary singing at the Amsterdam music academy, where she developed into a musician, arranger and composer. She was taught by, among others, Gé Titulaer, Sylvi Lane, Annett Andriessen, Jurre Haanstra. Esmée participated in the show "Mana" of the Scapinoballet on the occasion of Rotterdam Cultural Capital City 2001 and for two seasons she performed weekly in the Dutch science television programme 'Flogiston' by Wim T. Schippers. She sang backing vocals for Freek de Jonge, Postmen and Karin Bloemen. Furthermore she recorded a CD with the group Vocal Affairs. Esmée performs with Berget Lewis and the Gospeltrain and recently sang the cd single It's Time by Ferry Corsten.
Besides her work with Jazzed to the Max, the vocal jazzgroup Sister Bop and Martinez Move, Esmée teaches at the Maastricht and Alkmaar music academy and produces her own music.

Wies Ingwersen finished her study contemporary singing at Hilversum music academy summa cum laude. She sang in the pop-fusionband Lafitte, the jazzformation Swing Progress and sang solo with the Coca Cola World Chorus during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary in 1988. She performed as a guest singer with the Skymasters, the Beets Brothers, Candy Dulfer and the Swing Society, and won the Denon Swing Award. Wies sang backing vocals for Sue Chaloner, Berget Lewis and the Gospeltrain, Loud & Proud and since 1995 also for Karin Bloemen. She performed for four years with Martinez Move, and was involved in productions of, among others, Michiel Borstlap, Girltalk, Baileo, Mete Erker and the Millenium Jazz Orchestra.
Besides Jazzed to the Max, Wies teaches contemporary singing in her own practice and gives performances with several groups.

Eva Baggerman studied solo jazz singing with Marjorie Barnes and Rachel Gould at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Besides occasional performances with musicians like Pat Metheny, Georgie Fame and Red Mitchel, she sang more than once with the Metropole Orchestra and toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Eva participated in several theatre productions like I. Bergman's Autumn Sonata, worked as a choir repetitor and an assistent to the director in the musical Company by S. Sondheim and produced three CD's. In 1997, after a period of performing with her own sextet, the vocal trio Kind of Blue, and Take it Easy (as a pianist), she set up the vocal group Jazzed to the Max, in which she is a singer, the band leader and arranger. In 2004, she also started a new vocal jazz formation called Sister Bop.
Besides her work with Jazzed to the Max and Sister Bop, Eva runs close harmony workshops, gives singing masterclasses, teaches at the Amsterdam School of Arts and also writes music for her solo programme. www.evabaggerman.com

Erwin Young started playing the piano when he was eight. After a year of High School in Philadelphia he decided to study law. Halfway through his law study he switched to the Amsterdam music academy to study contemporary and improvised singing. His teachers were Sylvia Langelaan, Gé Titulaer and he participated in masterclasses by Deborah Brown and José Koning. Besides working as a pianist and a singer at the School for New Dance Developments, he works as an actor, copywriter and composer for congresses. He sang solo with the Liszt Ferenc Chorus for 6 years and participated in the Tamar Music Theater Project in 2001.
He is a tenor in Jazzed to the Max and teaches singing in his own practice.

Paul van Kessel

Paul van Kessel is studying contemporary singing with Gé Titulaer, Eileen Fiss and Sylvi Lane at the Amsterdam music academy. In 2003 he was runner-up at the Dutch Vocalists Contest and also reached the semi-finale of the Montreux Jazzfestival. Besides his close affinity with the jazz repertory, Paul is very much interested in different styles of popular music and is also experimenting with funk and house. He could be heard at festivals such as Pinkpop and Indian Summer as MC/singer. Apart from partaking in Jazzed to the Max, Paul is regularly involved in cd recordings and is preparing for his finals which will take place in 2005.

Bob Wijnen (1971) is a very versatile musician, playing the piano as well as the synthesizer and Fender Rhodes with effects. He graduated with distinction at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in 1998. He is playing in many different line-ups, varying from trio to big band, from jazz to funk and everything in between and has been working with Jean "Toots" Thielemans, Peter King, Ferdinand Povel, Ack van Rooijen, Jerry van Rooijen, Bob Mintzer, Eric Vloeimans, Jarmo Hoogendijk, Benjamin Herman, Jasper Blom, Ben v/d Dungen, Fay Claassen, Ronald Douglas a.o. He is also exploring other fields of music like theater and cabaret (best accompanist Amsterdam Kleinkunst Festival 1998, comping singer/songwriter Paul Passchier, previously with the widely regarded Dutch pianist Bert v/d Brink). He was especially complimented by the late Michel Petrucciani and by Toots Thielemans for his playing on the Fender Rhodes electric piano. At this moment he has his own Hammond Trio Wijnen, Winter & Larsen, performs with Sioh Maluku and the exciting Dutch vocal group Jazzed to the Max and recorded CD's with the Klemens Marktl Quartet featuring Jasper Blom, Jazzed to the Max featuring Benjamin Herman and Eric Vloeimans and with Sanna van Vliet (Munich Records). www.bobwijnen.nl

Eric Heijnsdijk studied both the double bass with Hein v/d Geyn and Frans Jan v/d Hoeven, and the trombone with Martijn Sohier and Art Moore at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Among others Eric teamed up with Jan Verweij, Ton v/d Geyn and Chris Strik. As a bassist he can be heard with Jazzed to the Max and Jatof Swing, and as a trombonist he partakes in musical projects of the Royal Conservatoire Bigband.

The musical career of René Winter started in Groningen. Later he studied the drum with Erik Ineke, Marcel Serierse and Frits Landesbergen at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, and participated in masterclasses with, among others, Ack van Rooyen, Ben Herman, Hans Dulfer and Jarmo Hoogendijk. René could be heard weekly in the Dutch radio programme Hier en Nu Nieuwspoort and was the regular drummer of the Amsterdam stand-up comedian café Toomler, where he colloborated with artists such as Ferdinand Povel, Hans Teeuwen and Debby Sledge.
Besides Jazzed to the Max, he also performs with the Westcoast Bigband - with which he has recently recorded the cd All Dutch - and with Wijnen, Winter & Thor.