Bio

Bas “Basie” Janssen first saw the light on Bob Dylan’s 33rd birthday, May 24th, in 1974. This was also the exact day of the departing of legendary Jazz composer Duke Ellington. Originally trained in classical piano, Basie discovered the Beatles, Pete Johnson and Creedence in his early teens. After ten years of playing the piano in the successful swing, jump & bluesband Texan Tail, Basie explored various musical genres and instruments, ranging from Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet and melodica to Gibson guitars, marimba and accordeon, and from jazz, funk and acid to roots, pop and folk. With the Big Four Quintet, the Wild Specialties, Elmore D and Soulradio, Basie played at festivals and clubs all over Europe, on national tv and radio and recorded some acclaimed albums including ‘The Congregation Sessions’, ‘Sanctified’ and ‘Beautiful Today’ that ended up high in the Dutch musical journalist favorite lists and received generous airplay.

Basie collaborated and performed with JD McPherson, Big Jay McNeely, Enrico Crivellaro, Alex Schultz, Big Pete, Ray Collins Hot Club and Elmore D, performing at the Zwarte Cross, Bospop, Moulin Blues Festival, De Wereld Draait Door (national TV show), Belgium Rhythm & Blues Festival, Paradiso club (Amsterdam), Birmingham Jazz Festival, Dusseldorf Jazz festival, Rhythm Riot (UK),  Cedeira International Roots festival (Spain), Comblain Jazz festival (BE), Jazz Parade Fribourg (Swiss), and many many more..