Jeanfrançois Prins Biography - a modern Jazz guitarist

Belgian Jazz guitarist Jeanfrançois Prins was born in Brussels and currently resides in Berlin and New York City. He has spent most of his adult life as a professional musician, arranger and producer; performing, recording and collaborating with many of today’s Jazz giants. He has been teaching private instrument lessons and classes in Berlin’s Music Universities, where he lead the Jazz Guitar Departments for over a decade, and gives workshops and master-classes in Europe and the U.S., communicating with enthusiasm his passion for this expansive music to the next generations of players.

Jeanfrançois has several current projects as a leader. His “Colliding Universes” is a 6^tet which features 2 tenor saxophones, a fluegelhorn, bass and drums. In October ’07, he started performing with his new New York Trio (Victor Lewis drs, Cameron Brown b) at the legendary “Sweet Rhythm”. "All Strings Attached" features his trio plus a classical string quartet, performing his original compositions and arrangements. He also co-leads a new 4^tetwith american saxophonist extraordinaire Andy Middleton.

At age 18, Prins started playing music as a self-taught improviser.

At age 19, Prins was already leading his own professional band, performing his original tunes and arrangements. In 1991, he graduated as a Sound Engineer from the world famous I.N.S.A.S. School for Performing Arts in Brussels, Belgium. The same year, he was awarded the First Prize for Instrumental Performance at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles, as well as the “Golden Sax”, awarded by both the French- and Dutch- speaking Jazz journalists in Belgium.

As a guitarist, Jeanfrançois Prins has performed as a leader and/or as a sideman with Toots Thielemans, Lee Konitz, Judy Niemack, Kenny Wheeler, Bud Shank, Lew Tabackin, Gary Bartz, Jaleel Shaw, Gary Foster, Gary Bartz, John Ruocco, Andy Middleton, Steve Houben, Jacques Pelzer, Peter Weniger, Julian Priester, Jiggs Whigham, Randy Brecker, Uli Beckerhoff, Tim Hagans, Till Brönner, Jim Mc Neely, Kirk Lightsey, Dan Haerle, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Michel Herr, Walter Norris, Kirk Nurock, Mal Waldron, Bruce Barth, Stephen Scott, Alban Gerhardt, Mike Richmond, Eddie Gomez, Putter Smith, Jay Anderson, Scott Colley, Rufus Reid, Hein Van de Geyn, Ricardo del Fra, Ratzo Harris, Bruno Castellucci, Steve Davis, Adam Nussbaum, Joe La Barbera, Jerry Granelli, Billy Hart, Victor Lewis, John Betsch, Al "Tootie" Heath, Café, Pandit Sankha Chatterjee, Quincy Jones, Peter Herbolzheimer, Jay Clayton, Darmon Meader, Theo Bleckmann, Janice Borla, Katalina Segura, Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay... in Europe (Basque Country, Belgium, Catalunya, Corsica, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine, ...) and in the U.S. (New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Stanford,...)

Jeanfrançois Prins has recorded five CDs as a leader. The fourth one, "All Around Town" (TCB 99402), was conceived as his own musical photo album of New York City. He recorded it in trio with bassist Mike Richmond and drummer Adam Nussbaum, plus saxophonist Lee Konitz as a guest. His latest release "Light" (GAM 918), is co-led by drummer Steve Davis, in trio with bassist Larry Kohut. "Light" is a good example of their concepts for organic and interactive trio playing with standards as well as modern Jazz compositions.

He is also featured as a soloist and accompanist on a large number of recordings.

Jeanfrançois Prins has been featured on TV in Belgium, France, Holland, Estonia, the U.S., and on the satellite channel Muzzik, both in interviews and performing. In 1994, he was an actor and musician in the Belgian movie "Just Friends", which won several prizes and was nominated for an Oscar in the United States as "Best Foreign Film". In early 1999, the Belgian television (RTBF) produced a special documentary feature about his international career, both as a musician and an educator. "Brussels - Berlin - New York - Jeanfrançois Prins" was also aired on the worldwide French language channel TV5 in the summer of 1999. He was followed and interviewed in NYC by a team of the RTBF News for a few days in 2006, for a report about the 5^th anniversary of 9/11.

Several musicians have played Jeanfrançois Prins’ compositions :
"New York Stories" was recorded by his own quintet, Toots Thielemans, Judy Niemack, Kenny Werner, Michel Herr & Jack Van Poll, The Terrassa Big Band (arranged by German top arranger Peter Herbolzheimer) , the WDR Big Band (arranged by Grammy-Award winner Jim Mc Neely), and has been used for several years as the title song of the Radio Judaïca Jazz Program in Belgium. It was also used in a TV commercial for the Belgian Postal Service, which was aired on four different channels in Belgium for six months. It was also arranged for big band by Grammy-winner arranger Jim McNeely, and by German top arranger Peter Herbolzheimer.
"Cat’s Eyes" was recorded and performed by his own quintet, by singer Mary Kay, then featured in Belgian TV game show "Génies en Herbe", which was aired five times world-wide on the international TV5 channel.
"What" was recorded and performed by his own quartet, trumpeter Richard Rousselet’s quintet, and by Lee Konitz.

In the beginning of the year 2000, he was hired, together with Judy Niemack, to compose and perform all the original music for a documentary-film series to be aired on the Discovery Channel in the U.S..

Always very involved in the groups that he decides to play with, Jeanfrançois Prins has written arrangements and originals for them (Richard Rousselet, Lee Konitz, Mary Kay, Judy Niemack, Toots Thielemans, ...).

Being a sound engineer and knowledgeable about the record industry, Jeanfrançois Prins has always had a producer’s approach to his projects. He produced and arranged Mary Kay’s CD, "Make Someone Happy", featuring Toots Thielemans. He co-produced three CDs for Judy Niemack, Richard Rousselet’s CD “Waitin’ For You”, and Sören Fischer’s CD “Don’t Change Your Hair For Me”. He produced and arranged Judy Niemack’s recording “About Time” (SONY JAZZ), her recent CD “Blue Nights” (BLUJAZZ), and her soon-to-be-released album “In the Sundance”. His most recent productions include “What’s Goin’ On?” by the Terrassa Big Band, and virtuoso pianist Walter Norris’ new project “Elements ‘n Motion” (Sunburst Spring ’09). He is also consulted by colleagues on questions of sequencing, editing and choice of "takes".

Discography as a leader

- Jeanfrançois PRINS 5tet "N.Y. Stories" GAM Jam 911

- Jeanfrançois PRINS "Light GAM 918

Selected discography as a sideman

- Mary KAY "Make Someone Happy" feat. Toots THIELEMANS GAM Jam 912

- Lee KONITZ "Rhapsody" vol. 1 Paddle Wheel Records KICJ 174
"Rhapsody" vol. 2 Paddle Wheel Records KICJ 210

- Judy Niemack "About Time" feat. Eddie Gomez, Lee Konitz SONY JAZZ 509824-2

- Terrassa Big Band "What Goin' On"

- Meike Goosmann Quintet "Portraits" NRW

- Darmon Meader "And So Am I"

As an educator, Jeanfrançois Prins had an early start. Although he started playing music fairly late, he had a wide knowledge of the jazz tradition and the history of music in general because of being brought up in his parents’ record store, which specialised in Jazz and Classical music.

As a child, he spent much of his free time listening to records and singing along with them, learning improvised solos by heart. He also started to play them for his friends, and even for adults, quizzing them in “blindfold tests”. By the time he reached adolescence, these listening sessions had become a sort of institution, and musicians and non-musicians alike attended them regularly.

When Jeanfrançois began playing guitar, at age 17, many musicians knew him already and they would often drop by and hang out in the back room of the record store, giving him musical advice. There Prins started a Saturday afternoon jam session which quickly became a weekly workshop. Some veterans like Hein van de Geyn, Philip Catherine, and Jean-Louis Rassinfosse were there, but also some new and inexperienced musicians. They worked on new tunes, chord progressions and interplay each week. For the young musicians, the sessions started earlier, just with Jeanfrançois, who taught them how to improvise, phrase with Jazz time feeling, develop a personal tone, listen to the others and react. He wasn’t only teaching how to play the guitar, but also taught improvisation for the saxophone, flute, piano, drums, trumpet, ...

Prins’ method was always very interactive, and organic. “If you don’t hear something, don’t play it. Listen to many musicians playing the same compositions and compare. Teach yourself to hear the notes which, at first, sound foreign to you. Once you understand them in a natural, physical way, then you can incorporate them into your own vocabulary”.

For several years, he had regular private students at home, both younger and older than him.

In the Winter of 1995, Jeanfrançois Prins was invited by the Jazz Faculty of the H.D.K. Berlin to audition as a guitar teacher. He was then hired as the new Jazz guitar teacher of the H.D.K.. There, he soon began teaching classes (Jazz History Class, Listening & Analysis, Transcription, ...) and ensembles (Ellington, Monk, Guitar Ensemble, ...). In all of these classes, some of which were his own creations, he brought a multimedia dimension, showing videos, playing CDs, and interacting directly with the students. Starting in the Summer semester of 1998, he has had a Guest Professorship at the H.D.K for two years.

In the meantime, he was asked to audition as a guitar teacher at the HfM Hanns Eisler in Berlin, was accepted, and has been teaching Methodik/Lehrpraxis classes, private guitar lessons and created a Lennie Tristano ensemble there.

In 1999, he became the leader of the guitar section in the Hanns Eisler’s Jazz Department. In 2006, both of Berlin's Jazz Departments (UdK and Hanns Eisler) merged into the brand-new JIB (Jazz Institute Berlin).

In 2000, he joined the faculty of Peter Herbolzheimer's BuJazzO (Bundes Jazz Orchester), and keeps working with him in his European jazz Academy and Masterclass workshops.

In 2009, he joined the faculty of the JAZZINTY International workshop and Festival in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, along with Andy Middleton and Randy Brecker.

Jeanfrançois Prins considers teaching as a natural thing to do for a musician. He wants to share his knowledge and simultaneously learn from his students. That is the way that Jazz has evolved and will continue its evolution from one generation to the next.

Jeanfrançois Prins’ music is poetic and passionate. One can hear him in a large variety of styles, from solo to big-band with orchestra. He enjoys risk-taking improvisation and organic interaction. His lyrical fusion of romance and hard-swinging guitar is influenced by his encounters with World Music, Latin Jazz, French Chanson, Contemporary Classical music, Avant-Guarde and Pop.

Jeanfrançois Prins

Guitarist

Composer-Arranger

Educator