Suzan Veneman meets Leo Janssen | JazzPodium Amersfoort

In-demand trumpeter and composer Suzan Veneman has made her mark on the Dutch jazz scene with her warm and playful sound. She expresses her broad musical vision in her own unique way through renowned bands such as the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw and her own projects, “Zinder” and the “Suzan Veneman Sextet.” With her own bands, she has already performed at many leading venues and festivals.

In addition to her work as a performing musician, Suzan is also a talented composer and arranger. She has received various awards and commissions for her work, including at the ASMAC Big Band Composers and Arrangers Competition in LA (U.S., 2014) and the Jazz Comp Graz Big Band Composers Competition in Austria (2021). She was invited to the NDR Big Band’s “Arrangement Podium” in 2021 and received the Rogier van Otterloo Award in 2024.

Suzan has released three albums under her own name: “Migrations of the Mind” (2022), “Zinder” (2024), and “The Art of Letting Go” (2025). This latest album explores her own journey of learning to let go and finding meaning—through the darkness and back into the light. The album has also been nominated for an Edison Award (2026).

Among connoisseurs, Leo Janssen has long been regarded as one of the brightest gems of the Dutch wind instrument scene. Since 1986, he has been the principal saxophonist of the acclaimed Metropole Orchestra, where he has collaborated with top international artists such as Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Jim Beard, Pat Metheny, the Yellow Jackets, Gino Vannelli, Adrian Belew, and many others.

Janssen is as virtuosic as he is versatile. He masters a wide range of styles, from Dixieland to bebop and free jazz, from blues to jazz-rock and pop. He blends these skills into an intrinsic, unique playing style on the tenor and soprano saxophones, leaving no room for standard licks or clichés. In addition to the saxophone, he also plays the clarinet and flute.

Janssen is a much-sought-after soloist, and in addition to the Skymasters and the Metropole Orchestra, he has worked with artists such as Eef Albers, Peter Tiehuis, Frank Burks, Arno van Nieuwenhuize, Marc Scholten, Egbert Derix, Thijs Borsten, and Stormvogel. With musicians from this group of kindred spirits, Leo Janssen regularly heads into the studio for his ongoing project “Echoes of the Mind.”

Lineup:
Suzan Veneman – trumpet
Leo Jansen - saxophone
TBD

This performance is made possible in part by the Fonds Podiumkunsten.

Admission: €10.00 (€12.50 at the door)
Tickets are available HERE

Observant opens 30 minutes before the concert begins.