Artist Info

Jef neve was born in Belgium on March 8th, 1977. He studied at the Lemmensinstituut in Louvain, and took master classes by Jozef De Beenhouwer, Guy de Mey, Brad Mehldau, Martial Solal, Lew Tabackin, Toots Thielemans, Billy Hart, Bill Carothers, Kenny Werner and Bruce Barth.
In 2000 Jef graduated with Master of Music degrees in both jazz and classical piano, with great distinction. In 2001 he specialized in Chamber Music and he was rewarded 'cum laude'.
Next to his musical education, Jef started to play in local bands at the age of fourteen. During that period he composed a wide variety of pieces for the most divergent ensembles (from piano solo to symphonic orchestra). From age seventeen to twenty he played with the popular funk band Mr. Zebedee, immediately his first contact with jazz and blues.
As freelance pianist Jef performed with various jazz bands, classical ensembles, popbands (f.ex. Get Ready, the famous Belgian boys band), theatre productions, studio sessions, to solo performances with the Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Michel Tilkin). As jazz musician he worked with Dré Pallemaerts, Paolo Fresu, Lindsey Horner, etc...
In 2002 he worked for a year as a pianist and composer for the Contemporary Dance Company 'Dathe' in London.

"Blue Saga" (Contour, 2003), the first album of the Jef Neve Trio, was immediately a bestseller. His second album "It'sGone" (Contour, Nov 2004) is #1 best sold jazz album in Belgium. It received the prestigious Radio Klara prize for 'Best International Jazz Album 2005', and unanimous acclaim in the international press (for ex.: "From Belgium comes Jef Neve, an explosively gifted young pianist whose second album, It's Gone, is without question one of the best I've heard in 2005." AllAboutJazz.com-Marc Meyers, Sept.2005).

Jef Neve signed with UNVIVERSAL Music Belgium, and his third album, “Nobody is Illegal” has been released in November 2006. The immediate reactions are fantastic, in one month the cd climbed up high in the pop-charts, and the reviews are superlative (for ex.: “On his major label debut ‘Nobody Is Illegal’ his highly personal approach to the piano trio announces the arrival of a young musician of enormous promise who has the potential to become a major voice on the European jazz scene.” “In an age where the quick musical fix has become the norm, Neve’s music is set to be around for the long haul.” - Stuart Nicholson, Nov. 2006)
Universal companies abroad are equally enthousiastic and more than 12 countries release thealbum: France, Holland and Portugal in January ‘07, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switserland, Spain, the U.K., Ireland, Canada, Denmark, Greece and more countries to follow in the spring.
In France the album received the 'CHOC' in the magazine 'Jazzman' and the presentation in Paris in January was a big success, as well as in Holland at the 'Lantaren-Venster' in Rotterdam. In Portugal the cd was presented in february in Lissabon with three sold-out shows covered by radios & tv. (some people even came to see all 3 concerts!). In Italy the cd-presentation will be on May 8th at the Veneto Jazz festival and in Germany in Berlin on May 16.

Jef Neve was nominated for several prizes : the ZAMU Awards 2004 as well as 2005 in the category 'best artist', the 'Cultuurprijzen Vlaanderen 2005' in the category 'music' (next to Tom Barman/DeUs and Capilla Flamenca), as well as for the 'Octaves de la Musique 2005'. In February 2007 he received the ZAMU-award 2006 in the category Jazz.

Jef Neve is also part of the Pascal Schumacher Quartet, with which he recorded two albums, and who won first prize at Avignon 'Tremplin Jazz'. The band performed in Europe as well as tours in Australia and South-Africa.

In 2005/06 the Jef Neve Trio performed a large number of concerts and several international festivals (Athens Int Jazz, Blue Note Festival, Festival van Vlaanderen, Middelheim Jazz, Jazz à Liège, Audi Jazz Festival, Mexico Eurojazz festival, Wiltz Int. Festival, etc ..), and received standing ovations in some main jazzclubs, for example the 'Bimhuis' jazzclub in Amsterdam and Sunside in Paris.
For 2007 several festivals already confirmed : Montreal Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz, Veneto Jazz Festival/Italy, Vienna Jazz/Austria, Blue Note Festival Gent, Middelheim Jazz, Parc Floral/Paris, North Sea jazz, Rabat Festival/Marocco, European Jazz Festival Athens/Greece, London Jazz Festival, etc …

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 performed several times in 2006 and 2007.

Jef Neve has written the sound track for the new movie ‘Dagen Zonder Lief’ by Belgian film director Felix Van Groeningen which came out in the cinemas in march 2007 and has a huge success. All the critics mention the sound track as being the strong point of the movie.