Gert-Jan Dreessen
- Instrumenten : Slagwerk
- Geboren : 03/10/1995 - genk
Born in 1995 in Genk, Belgium, Gert-Jan Dreessen has quickly become one of the most exciting jazz drummers of his generation.
As a drummer, composer and educator, Dreessen moves between contemporary jazz, composed music and open improvisation. His playing is marked by a strong sense of direction, a broad textural sound palette and a natural feel for interaction. In his compositions, clear melodic ideas, rhythmic layering and open structures come together in music that leaves space for risk, detail and collective movement.
After studies in Leuven, Cologne and Antwerp, he spent 2019–2020 in New York with the support of BAEF, MERIT and the Flemish Government. That period became an important turning point in his artistic development, expanding his international network and sharpening his voice as a drummer-composer.
Dreessen has performed internationally with musicians including Bert Joris, Logan Richardson, John O’Gallagher, Shai Maestro and Nduduzo Makhathini, and is a regular member of ensembles such as Flat Earth Society Orchestra, Jeroen Reggers and the Tomer Cohen Quartet. In 2024, his performance with Flat Earth Society at Lincoln Center in New York was selected by The New York City Jazz Record as one of the best New York concerts of the year.
With his own quartet — featuring Bram De Looze on piano, Jean-Paul Estiévenart on trumpet and Cyrille Obermüller on double bass — Dreessen brings together four distinct voices from the European jazz scene. The group focuses on original music that balances structure and freedom, with a strong emphasis on interaction, sound, nuance and long-form development.
In 2025, Dreessen released his debut album Angle of Incidence on Hypnote Records. The album received strong international response and airplay across Europe, the United States, Japan and South America. It was selected by Focus Knack as one of the Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2025 and received the designation “Révélation” from Jazz Magazine in France.
In 2024, Dreessen was selected by VRT/Klara as one of “De Twintigers,” recognizing emerging artists with a distinct voice. As part of the program, his quartet recorded a live session in the legendary Toots Studio.
Alongside his work as a performer and composer, Dreessen remains active in education and curatorship. He has taught jazz at LUCA School of Arts in Leuven and curates a concert series at CC De Bogaard in Sint-Truiden, where he helps shape a platform for jazz, improvisation and new artistic voices.
He has toured throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, South Africa and Mexico. While his international presence continues to grow, his artistic practice remains closely connected to the Belgian and European jazz scenes.
“Intelligent, layered and irresistibly beautiful.”
— Focus Knack (BE) (Top 10 Jazzalbums 2025)
“In an astonishingly short amount of time, this young drummer has established himself as an artist to be reckoned with.”
— Flagey / JazzLab
