The Beets Brothers
Double-Bass player Marius Beets started his musical upbringing at the age of six on the piano. Shortly thereafter he furthermore began acquiring proficiency on the guitar, at first the acoustic variant, later on the electric guitar and the bass-guitar. He still is an accomplished pianist, an indispensable proviso for his composing- and orchestrating-work.
Alexander started his musical education by his mother also at the age of six not only on the piano, but some time later also on the clarinet, the last instrument causing her some trouble. This notwithstanding he proved an apt pupil and private tuition was soon initiated. After switching from clarinet to tenor-saxophone it became obvious, that his main interest was definitely not the piano.
Peter received his first piano lessons like his two brothers before him at the age of six. Soon after that he discovered his elder brother’s guitar and started to appreciate that instrument as well. Actually one of the first concerts of the Beets Brothers saw Peter playing the guitar as there was no piano available.
Becoming an accomplished musician not only takes a lot of inspiration but also a great amount of transpiration, from the age of six years on they were put under the stern musical tutelage of their mother and were trained each for one hour daily and six days a week. Hesitantly their father tried to inject some jazz into this classical bastion.
After some years of objecting to this regime one day the boys discovered the fun and satisfaction of playing together, and the Beets Brothers were born. At first their playing was restricted to the parental living-room which very soon became packed with a variety of musical instruments. Later they gave school-concerts and performed for a local radio-station. Soon they were asked to play at competitions (that they regularly won) and festivals.
Although Marius and Peter after high-school were enrolled into The Royal Conservatory in The Hague (both graduated with honours from this venerable institution) it was long before admission that the boys were already performing on a regular basis throughout their home country and also in Germany.
The Beets Brothers created their own easily recognizable sound, comprised of a pronounced tone-picture superimposed on swinging rhythmic patterns and a characteristic blistering energy. They play comprehensible main-stream jazz, widely appreciated by their audiences.
Needless to say a string of albums was released on cd, not only of the Beets Brothers, but also of the Peter Beets Trio and the Marius Beets Orchestra. Apart from that the boys individually often were asked to partake in the cd’s of other groups.
The three brothers, either together or with other musicians play all over the world, so is Marius scheduled later this year to play in Colombia and South Korea, Alexander recently gave concerts in India with Saskia Laroo and in the Dutch Antilles and is invited back there later this year with his brothers and Peter -mainly with his trio- is a regular visitor to the United States and Japan and also many European countries from Poland to Spain and from Rumania to France. Of course the brothers perform many times in their home-country too.
