After the liberation of the Second World War in 1945, he discovered the first Bebop tunes on V-discs and on the American Forces Network Channel. With his teen age trio "The Rose Valley's", he took part in the Dutch Jazz Competition in Amsterdam in 1946.
From the early Fifties on, he backed up single artists from the U.S.A., who performed in Holland and Belgium, like Don Byas, Ben Webster, Johnny Griffin, Clark Terry, Tony Scott, Ted Curson, Buddy DeFranco and many others. In the late seventies he opened the "September Jazz Club" in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1984 he founded the "September Jazz Records" label. He joined the Lionel Hampton band on their East Coast Summer tour in 1985 and made his debut in Manhattan with Dee Dee Bridgewater that same year.
He performed at many International Jazz Festivals; Antibes, Pori, Prague, JVC Jazz Festival NYC, Cork, San Sebastian, Grahamstown, NSJF The Hague, Vienna, Comblain La Tour, Cracow, Berlin, Milano and Zurich. Apart from playing piano and tenor sax, he composes, writes lyrics, presents his weekly radio program, teaches music, is correspondent for a Flemish Jazz Magazine, writes Film Music and supports young musical talents. Since 1995 he lived near Cape Town in South Africa with his wife Trudy, then recently moved to Belgium.
PRESS EXCERPTS
"His playing has a tight bounce and muscular wit that cracks open the clichés encasing some of the standards, he makes them sound fresh as if he had just discovered them." Regina Hackett, Seattle Post Intellinger.
"Jack van Poll s'est montré digne de son compère Red Mitchell, ce qui n'est pas a la portée du premier venu." Paul Benkimoun, Jazz Magazine
"What a great day in my book, for musicianship, performance and feeling for fellow artist. Jack is top of the Poll." Peter Everett, Evening Herald, Port Elisabeth
"Tirons lui tout de suite un grand coup de chapeau, Jack van Poll a conquis ses lauriers avec une mention particulièrement brillante." Carlos De Raditzky. L'Express
"Im modernen Still belegt Jack van Poll unangefochten den ersten Platz. Technisch wie musikalisch, verflochten mit einer Fulle eigener Ideen, war er der herausragende moderne Solist." Hans Albrecht Pitzke, Rheinische Post
"Dutch pianist Jack van Poll is a boisterous soloist with a straightforward approach, retaining the original colours within the mainstream concept of his playing." John S. Wilson, The New York Times
"I had to look twice before I believed this Dutch cat was white." Dizzy Gillespie.
