Pianist Harmen Fraanje was born in 1976 in Roosendaal (Holland).At the moment he's commuting between Tilburg, the Netherlands and Paris, France. In 2000 Harmen graduated summa cum laude at the Utrecht Conservatory.
Harmen has his own quartet with the Brazilian guitar player Nelson Veras, Hein van de Geyn on bass and the French drummer Matthieu Chazarenc. Their first CD, Sonatala (Challenge Records), has been released at the North Sea Jazz Festival 2003. According to the Dutch newspaper NRC the quartet was the revelation of the North Sea Jazz festival 2003. In 2004 the North Sea Jazz festival and the Nederlandse Jazzdienst granted Harmen the Composition Assignment of the festival. Harmen has played on thefestival with his quartet plus the stringquartet Zapp. Ronja, their second CD, has been released in April 2006 by Challenge Records. Special guest on this disc is the French flute giant Magic Malik.
At the moment Harmen is playing a lot with the Narcissus Quartet, with Robin Verheyen on sax, Clemens van der Feen on the bass and Flin van Hemmen on drums. The Belgium Label de Werf has released their first CD in March 2006. www.narcissusquartet.com
Harmen is a member of the Nelson Veras Quartet, with Magic Malik (flute, voice), Stéphane Galland (drums) and Nelson Veras on guitar. Their first CD has been released in 2004 by the French label Label-Bleu. The French magazine Jazzman awarded the CD as CD of the month.
He is a member of different groups of Boy Edgar Prize and Bird Award Winner Eric Vloeimans (trumpet). Harmen has played on the CD Boompetit, with Ernst Reijseger (cello) and Anton Goudsmit (guitar). And their new CD has been released in spring 2006; Summersault. (Challenge Records) www.ericvloeimans.com Harmen is playing in some new groups: The Wim Bronnenberg Quintet (with John Ruocco), www.wimbronnenberg.nl The Stefan Lievestro Sextet (with Jesse van Ruller, Jasper Blom, Mete Erker and Hans van Oosterhout). www.stefanlievestro.com Osmosis (with Chander Sardjou, Mark Haanstra, Oene van Geel and Guillaume Orti). Sheer Music has released a new Real Book in winter 2005; this Real Book contains Harmens composition Sonatala.
During the last years Harmen has been performing on festivals and clubs all over the world. Harmen has played on international festivals in Paris, Berlin, Roma, St Petersburg, Oslo, Bangkok, Cap Breton, Vienna, Koice, North Sea, Budapest, La Roche-sur-Yon, Cap dAil, Viersen, Antwerp, Reykjavik, Essen, Clusone, Amiens, Jazz sous les Pommiers Coutances, Dijon, Trondheim, Cully, Sibiu, Avignon, Treignac, Madrid, Brussels, Perpignan, Le Mans For now concerts are scheduled in France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and India.
Harmen has played with musicians like: Mark Turner, Kenny Wheeler, Nelson Veras, Magic Malik, Stéphane Galland, Rick Margitza, Jesse van Ruller, Reggie Washington, John Ruocco, Brice Soniano, Han Bennink, Michael Moore, Anton Goudsmit, Jasper Blom, Ernst Reijseger, Cristina Branco, Eric Vloeimans, Hans van Oosterhout, Bert Joris, Hein Van de Geyn, Philip Catherine, Jimmy Haslip, John Engels, Mats Eilertsen, Michel Benita, Dutch Jazzorchestra of the Concertgebouw, Nils Ostendorf, Toma Gouband, Martin France, Dré Pallemaerts, Guillaume Orti, Gulli Gudmundsson, Airelle Besson, The Metropole Orchestra under John Clayton, Michael Vatcher, Guilhem Verger, Bert van den Brink, Thomas Strönen, the Zapp Stringquartet. www.harmenfraanje.nl
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