vocal jazz

The Monic Kersten Band is an authentically ambitious jazz quartet from the Netherlands, formed around singer Monic Kersten. The four musicians met each other during their music studies and have been swinging together and in various ensembles ever since. As professional jazz musicians, they and their quartet have created a space in which they give free rein to their own musical energy.

The charismatic jazz singer Monic Kersten fascinates her audience with a light and clear voice, soulful and original. Monic's vocals are not separate from the band but rather work together with the rhythm section in the form of vocal improvisations. The sound of the flute gives an extra dimension to the whole.

The quartet's music is characterized by a lyrical and at the same time playful style, always looking at the traditional jazz repertoire with a fresh look.
Beautifully arranged jazz standards, catchy ballads and ingenious original compositions: it's simply fun to surrender to the flow of the Monic Kersten Band.

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Monic

Singer Monic Kersten graduated from the Arnhem Conservatory in 1989 for studying school music and two years later for jazz music.
Since then she has gained a lot of experience in all kinds of jazz and pop formations at home and abroad. She also gives singing lessons at the Lindenberg in Nijmegen and has worked as a guest teacher at Artez.
In 2003 she recorded her CD “Land of Dreams”, which also contains her own compositions.

Andreas

Andreas, originally from Wuppertal (DE), graduated in 1991 from the Conservatory in Arnhem (now ARTEZ). Since then he has gained a lot of experience in various pop and jazz formations.
He also taught piano for a long time at the Wageningen music school, and designed and built the EdgeTip sound studio in Arnhem. Here he collaborated on various CD productions by, among others, Jasper van het Hof and Henk Westbroek. Andreas has also been self-employed as a motion designer for some time now.

Norbert

In his teenage years, Norbert Leurs was captivated by the earthy sound of the bass and the role it plays in music. He studied double bass and bass guitar at the conservatory in Arnhem. As a bassist he has collaborated with many artists and musicians including John Helliwell, Iain Matthews, Quatro Ventos, Renée van Wegberg and Maria de Fátima. He is also the bassist of the jazz formation Searing Quartet and the world music company Lukic.

Pieter

Pieter Bast started playing drums at the age of 13 and graduated from the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam in 1988 as a Teaching and Performing Musician of Improvised Music.
To date, he has collaborated on numerous projects and collaborated with renowned musicians from home and abroad (including Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Mariano, Eric Vloeimans, The European Concert Orchestra, Enrico Pieranunzi, Paul van Kemenade and Mike Mainieri) and has performed concerts with them. provided in Europe, Africa, Indonesia, the Middle East and Canada.