Benjamin Herman

For the first time in his career, Herman has devoted an entire album to vocal numbers. “Daniel originally planned to play on two tracks. He is incredibly musical and ideas just kept flowing... we didn’t want it to stop,” Herman recalls. Von Piekartz plays and sings on eight of the ten tracks.

His album Live (release date 24 January 2014) has Herman and his quartet playing on the occasion of De Kring’s 90th anniversary. His previous album Café Solo already included two tracks of those recordings and now, due to popular demand, the other tracks have been made available. Live also features two tracks from a concert Herman gave with his trio in November 2013 during Jazzfest at Amsterdam’s Studio/K.

Benjamin Herman’s 16th solo album Trouble is released on 11 July 2014. In a new departure for the multi-talented saxophonist, his latest solo disc is a joint project with 24-year-old Daniel von Piekartz.

Benjamin Herman released a new solo album, Café Solo, in July 2013, featuring Ernst Glerum (bass) and Joost Patocka (drums).

In 2012, Herman released the album Deal, which is also the soundtrack of Eddy Terstalls move of the same name. Herman recorded this album with Jesse van Ruller, Joost Kroon, Manuel Hugas, Carlo de Wijs and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1993, Herman founded New Cool Collective, an eight-piece band with influences from jazz, soul and Latin music. He composes the music for this band, as well as the bigger New Cool Collective Big Band, and is also the leader of both. In 2011, New Cool Collective released its twelfth album, Eighteen.

Herman studied at the Hilversum Conservatory, from which he graduated cum laude in 1991. In that year, he was the only European selected for the Thelonious Monk Competition. He also studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

Benjamin Herman (London, 9 May 1968) is a Dutch jazz musician. He is best known as an alto saxophonist and as leader of the jazz band New Cool Collective. Herman also plays the C-melody saxophone and flute. He also has a radio show on Radio 6 (Netherlands).