The River Aa Big Band Veghel

In the year 2000 a long-cherished wish came true, the acclaimed professional musician Sjef van Liempd founded his own big band; THE RIVER AA BIG BAND.

He formed and molded his orchestra and transferred his musicality to the band with heart and soul. All this led to the release of a CD in the jubilee year 2010 entitled ~under Blue Skies~.

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Unfortunately and much too early, Sjef van Liempd passed away in February 2018.

THE RIVER AA BIG-BAND is now led by Theo Gerris, a seasoned bandleader and professional clarinetist/saxophonist.

In addition to the standard works for big band, the repertoire also includes pieces by Thelonious Monk, Thad Jones and greats such as Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. In addition, the Latin side is not forgotten and there are also beautiful ballads, sung by Claudia van Liempd. Moreover, we are the only band in Europe to perform the special arrangements of Les and Larry Elgart.

And with deep respect for the founder Sjef van Liempd, we do everything we can to make it a solid and smoothly swinging whole, as he would have wanted.

After all, his heart's wish was: ' A nice fat big band'.