Trombone player Jaap Voeten is specialized in various styles of jazz including hard bop, jazz dance and funk. Being an autodidact, he developed very much his own style. Living an Amsterdam and Hanoi in the past years, he now set base near Liège (B)/ Maastricht (NL).

He worked with Rinus Groeneveld, Clarence Becton, Saskia Laroo, Ghasem Batamuntu and Vincent Henar to name a few. He occasionally plays with Hans Dulfer and Steve Houben.

His current band Don't Git Sassy! unites contemporary grooves, Jazz and Trombone.

Jaap took up the trumpet at the age of nine. A year later, his father took him to a concert of the Theo Loevendie, Hans Dulfer and Martin van Duynhoven who happen to play free jazz in the local popular hangout. This turned out to be a critical experience; Jazz became his thing.

During that time, he studied music in local fanfare, getting a grip on the basics of music. Some years later - after having shifted to the trombone and starting playing at jazz workshops - another event marked his determination for jazz: Saxophone player Rinus Groeneveld asked him to join this Acid-Jazz band and he toured through The Netherlands for the next 2 years developing a very distinct Tenor Sax - Trombone sound, voicing and timing.

At the same time, Jaap Voeten began to develop initiatives in Amsterdam to position the trombone as main solo instrument on the front line of a jazz bands. This resulted in various combinations of jazz ensembles. One of most important initiatives was a jazz quartet with drummer Clarence Becton and bass player Bryan Leinwand. For more that 2 years this quartet performed 2-weeky in the café Alto. Without much words, Jaap Voeten as a front man in this group became really acquainted with the concepts musical interaction, creativity and originality. At the same time the jazz dance entered the scene in Amsterdam. This situation made him involved in jazzdance parties in Paradiso and other groovy places in Amsterdam.

Meanwhile he linked up with musicians such as Armando Cairo, Clarence Becton, Ghasem Batamuntu, Anton Goudsmit, Eddy Veldman, Pablo Nahar, Hans Dulfer, Quyen Van Minh, Quyen Thien Dac, Wolter Wierbos, Vincent Henar, Steve Houben, Sal La Rocca, Guus Tangelder, Tran Manh Tuan, Saskia Laroo, Rob Gaasterland, Howard Sie.

He performed at North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz in Duketown, Paradiso, Melkweg, Vredenburg, Oosterpoort, Moulin Blues, Bonboniere, Oerol festival, Cafe alto, Bourbonstreet, Elsa Cafe, Bamboobar, Casablanca, Hotel Winston, Heeren Van Aemstel, Meander, zaal 100, Musis Sacrum, George Jazzcafe, Boulevard of Broken dreams, Jazzpodium DJS, Jazzcafe de Tor, De Spieghel, The Duke, Dizzy, Nightlive, Woodstock Bloemendaal, Duke au Lombards, (Paris), Quyen Van Minh Jazzclub (Hanoi) etc.

Today the focus is on the band ‘Don't Git Sassy!' optimally using his musical knowledge and experiences from the past years. Key concepts of this music include trombone on the front line as lead instrument; original compositions using the jazz harmonic colours and developing interactive solos; contemporary computer-based sounds and rhythms.