Ben van den Dungen (

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, born 29 October 1960) is a Dutch

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

, composer and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

. Van den Dungen studied at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, graduating cum laude (1988). He has been performing nationally and internationally since the 1980s and teaches at the Codarts Jazz Academy Rotterdam.

Biography

Ben decided to play the saxophone in the early 1980s, after dropping out of school, without any previous musical education. He was accepted into the Haags Conservatorium where he was taught by Ruud Brink, Ferdinand Povel, Sandy Mosse and

Sal Nistico Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to: Personal name * Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname Places * Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality * Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Ca ...

. During his studies, he joined

Jan Laurens Hartong Jan Laurens Hartong (1941 – 2016). was a Dutch pianist, composer, arranger, teacher, founder and bandleader of Nueva Manteca. Hartong was a pioneer of the Dutch Latin jazz scene, he was also a musicologist and author. Biography Youth Harto ...

latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

group Nueva Manteca. Together with fellow student

Jarmo Hoogendijk Jarmo Hoogendijk (born 28 March 1965) is a Dutch former jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. He performed successfully from the 1980s until 2004, when he ended his active career as a musician. Since then, he has been teaching music at three majo ...

he started the Ben van den Dungen/jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet, with drummer

Eric Ineke Eric Ineke (born Haarlem, April 1, 1947) is a Dutch jazz drummer who started his career in the 1960s. After a few years of lessons of John Engels, he gained his first experience as jazzdrummer with singer Henny Vonk and tenorsaxophonist Ferdina ...

, bass player Harry Emmery and pianist Rob van Bavel. The quintet received the NOS Jazz Award (1985) and had considerable success performing in The Netherlands, including several performances at the North Sea Jazz Festival, and abroad. After Hoogendijk sustained an embouchure injury and quit playing in 2004, their musical collaboration ended. Early 2000s, he traveled to India to study, resulting in the How2BE project. Over the years, he has continued performing there in different setups. In 2003 he started combining tango with jazz and other styles of music with the ensemble Tango Extremo/Musica Extrema, together with his partner Tanya Schaap. Van den Dungen also played in the

Louis van Dijk Louis van Dijk, also spelled Louis van Dyke (27 November 1941 – 12 April 2020), was a beloved Dutch pianist. Born as Arnold Ludwig van Dijk in Amsterdam, he studied solo piano at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. Louis van Dijk became well-known fo ...

Super Band and with Lucas van Merwijks Cubop City Big Band. He formed the Ben van den Dungen Quartet in 2010 with pianist Miguel Rodriguez, bassist Marius Beets and drummer Gijs Dijkhuizen. Up until 2023, the band has released five albums. As of 2023, he is also still performing with Nueva Manteca. During his career, Van den Dungen has played with various international musicians from the jazz and world music scenes, including Cindy Blackman, Mal Waldron,

Woody Shaw Woody Herman Shaw Jr. (December 24, 1944 – May 10, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, arranger, band leader, and educator. Shaw is widely known as one of the most important and influential jazz trumpet ...

Luis Conte Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best-known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began ...

, Orestes Vilato,

Armando Peraza Armando Peraza (May 30, 1924 – April 14, 2014) was a Latin jazz percussionist and a member of the rock band Santana. Peraza played congas, bongos, and timbales. Biography Early life Born in Lawton Batista, Havana, Cuba in 1924 (although the ...

, Giovanni Hildalgo, Nicky Marrero, Claudio Roditi and Ralph Irizarry.

Teaching

Van den Dungen has been teaching at the Codarts Jazz Academy Rotterdam since 1991. He acted as head of Codarts' jazz department for a number of years. He also produced several jazz summer schools in Korea, Bali and India.

Other activities

Van den Dungen has also been active as composer, producer, representative for artists' interests and as podcast maker.

Bands and selected discography

A selection of bands in which Van den Dungen performed: Ben van den Dungen/Jarmo Hoogendijk Quintet * Heart of the Matter (1987,

Timeless Records Timeless Records is a jazz record label based in the Netherlands. Timeless was founded in Wageningen in 1975 by Wim Wigt. It has specialized in bebop, though it also did a sub-series of releases of Dixieland and swing recordings. As of 2000, th ...

) * Speak Up (1989, Timeless) * Run for your Wife (1991, Timeless) * Double Dutch (1995, Groove) Louis van Dijk Super Band Ben van den Dungen Quartet * Obsession Blues (2023, JWA Records) * Live at Lux & Tivoli (2021, JWA Records) * 2 Sessions (2017, JWA Records) * A Night at the Club (2014, JWA Records) * Ciao City (2013, JWA Records) Nueva Manteca * ART (2022, JWA Records) * Crime (2015, JWA Records) * 25 years: Live at Bimhuis; Live at Nick Vollebregt's, (2013, JWA Records) * A Latin Tribute to West Side Story (2003, Munich Records) * Congo Square (2001, Munich Records) * Night People (1998, Azucar /

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

) * Afro Cuban Sanctus (1997, Azucar / EMI) * Let's Face the Music and Dance (1995,

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

) * In concert at Nick Vollebregt's JazzCafé (1995, Wereldomroep) * Porgy & Bess (1993, EMI) * Bluesongo (1992, EMI) * Afrodisia (1990, Timeless) * Varadero Blues (1989, Timeless) Musica Extrema/Tango Extremo * Missa (2020, JWA Records) * Club Vaudeville (2017, JWA Records) * Mattheus Passie (2016, JWA Records) * Havana (2015, JWA Records) * Tango Extremo LIVE! (LP - 2013, STS Records) * Dama de blanco (2013, JWA Records) * DeLaMar Live (2012, JWA Records) * Toujour bizarre (2012, JWA Records) * Fantango (2012, JWA Records) * Carnaval de Buenos Aires (2009, Maxanter Records – The World Series) * Erase una vez... (2008, Munich Records) * El Silencio (2003, Munich Records) * Una Cosa Diferente (2005, Munich Records) How2Be * How to be Enlightened (2005, Dox) Cubop City Big Band * Arsenio (2002, Tam Tam Records) * Live in The Hague (1999, Tam Tam Records) * Moré & More (1998, Tam Tam Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dungen, Ben van den Dutch jazz musicians Dutch jazz saxophonists 1960 births Living people Royal Conservatory of The Hague alumni Academic staff of Codarts University for the Arts