Henk De Laat
- Instruments : Double bass, Vocals
He is currently in a vocal study program with Rhiannon, teacher at the Berklee College of Music, Boston.
In 1980 Henk started his musical career with a band called X-tra, playing ska-music. Later on he joined a group called Casino, accompanying Dutch and artists from abroad. A versatile accompanist he played with top-ranked vocalists such as Shirley Bassey, Deborah Brown, Marjorie Barnes, Dee Daniels and with exquisite jazz instrumentalists as Bob Minzer and Bob Malach.
For two years he toured with Denise Jannah with whom he played among others at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. He played with "La Corda", a unique trio with guitarplayers Peter Mingaars and Ben Boogaard.
In 1996 his first cd „But Beautiful" was released. It contains jazz
standards and bossa nova tunes all for which he got a warm
recommendation by harmonica legend Toots Thielemans.
He composed for
several international theater companies and played with Mike Zinzen,
Walpurgis, Pieter Embrechts, Jokke Schreurs, Carlos Diaz, Sabien
Tiels, the Euro Trio featuring Dirk Van der Linden and Dirk Raufeisen,
and „Gezien, Gezegd en Gezongen" featuring Yvonne Walter, Antje de
Boeck and Els Dottermans.
He also participated in a major theater
production from HETPALEIS called „Water, Lucht, Aarde en Vuur" and
"Nachtmuziek" with trumpet player Sam Vloemans.
Nowadays he is active in his own projects the new Enrique Tarde group,
and the duo de Laat & Schreurs with pianist Dirk Schreurs.
Henk performs in a most personal and spontaneous way and uses both the
subtle expressive and unique qualities of the human voice. In other
words, he plays the way he sings and sings the way he plays.
During many journeys around the globe Henk has lost his musical heart in Brasil, the culture of which has influenced his music in a remarkable way. His new CD „Breaking through the shadows" is a fine collection of Brazilian inspired songs that were recorded in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.
(see top of page for main discography)
|