From 1 to 31 October 2024, the Amsterdam jazz venue BIMHUIS will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Sun Ra Arkestra, Tineke Postma, Hans Dulfer, among others, will be on stage during the festive month. There is a lot of new music thanks to composition assignments for composers like Marta Warelis and Martin Fondse. And there are living room concerts in the private homes of citizens of Amsterdam, exhibitions and a specially brewed BIMHUIS-beer.
Program BIMHUIS 50 years
On October 1st, BIMHUIS opens the anniversary month with Martin Fondse's BIGBIM50: HOME. A free concert featuring a new composition by Fondse performed by a new ensemble performing in and around the building. The composition is a special tribute to the founders, inspirers and pioneers of the BIMHUIS. For invitees, a concert by the Tineke Postma Group and a duo performance by James Brandon Lewis and Chad Taylor will follow that evening. The evening will be streamed on BIMHUIS TV, the YouTube channel where more jubilee concerts will be streamed and hundreds of concerts are already available to watch. The entire program in October consists of more than 50 concerts and program elements.
See the entire BIMHUIS 50 years program
Legacy
Concerts dedicated to musicians who have contributed to the BIMHUIS for (almost) 50 years can be found in the Legacy section of the program. They are the difference-makers, the explorers who have shaken up jazz in the Netherlands and internationally, and without whom the BIMHUIS would not be what it is today. Playing are musicians who also played during the opening month in 1974: Hans Dulfer with his band (Oct. 2) and Ernst Reijseger with a large ensemble (Oct. 26). There is also a special program around the work of the legendary Willem Breuker on October 20. ICP Orchestra performs for young and old with two concerts on Oct. 6. Greetje Bijma presents a new album with Oceanic during Amsterdam Dance Event on October 16. October 7 is dedicated to Arnold Dooyeweerd. For 46 years he provided the free workshop in which many famous musicians made their first steps on a stage as upcoming talents.
View the Legacy program BIMHUIS 50 years.
New compositions and bands
To keep going for at least another 50 years, it is vital new music keeps being created and presented. In the production house BIMHUIS Productions, musicians can work uncompromisingly on an artistic signature, while creating new composition opportunities issued by BIMHUIS in the form of composition assignments. In addition to BIGBIM50: HOME on Oct. 1, Marta Warelis will present a new ensemble and new music on Oct. 11. And Tijn Wybenga will be awarded the annual BIMHUIS Composition Assignment, presenting his new music with his Brainteaser Orchestra on Oct. 31. Oscar Jan Hoogland and a group of musicians from the impro scene will take us through 50 years of impro, freedom and independence in music through different line-ups which together makes the typical BIMHUIS sound.
See the program of BIMHUIS Productions
Exhibitions
Many concerts that took place in the BIMHUIS over the past 50 years have been recorded. First only in sound, later and thanks to BIMHUIS TV, also with videos. This entire archive has been digitized and as of September 24 is officially managed by the Allard Pierson Museum, the institute in Amsterdam that collects, manages, unlocks, researches and presents valuable cultural heritage. There will be an exhibition in the café of BIMHUIS with personal concert requests from now world-famous musicians, old posters and newspaper headlines, photographs and other remarkable pieces from 50 years of BIMHUIS history. In Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA) on the Oosterdok there will be a mini version of the building, a small BIMHUIS. There, everyone's favorite concerts from BIMHUIS TV can be viewed.
See the BIMHUIS 50 Expo program
Concerts at other locations
Every Wednesdays in October there will be concerts by typical BIMHUIS musicians at five Amsterdam venues that are related; The Roode Bioscoop, Zaal 100, ZO Jazzstage, Splendor and Sexyland World. And there will be living room concerts organized at Amsterdam residents' homes on weekends. Registration for these is now closed.
About BIMHUIS
BIMHUIS is an internationally leading jazz club and nationally the only stage built specifically for jazz. This is why it is the ideal place for many to hear the most relevant contemporary jazz. By writing composition assignments, mentoring young musicians, actively participating in European collaborations that stand for sustainable tours and developing formats for children and youth, among other things, the organization cares for the future of jazz.
History BIMHUIS
The venue has been on the IJ in Amsterdam since 2005, but its first location was on the Oudeschans. There, saxophonist Hans Dulfer, horn player Willem Breuker and pianist Misha Mengelberg found an old furniture store that was converted into a stage for Dutch jazz. It was a place for and by musicians, where you could hear the latest sounds and also be paid fairly as a musician according to the BIM standard that still applies today. Bandleaders from all over the world, such as Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra travelled to Amsterdam to sample the atmosphere at the Oudeschans. Besides big names, there was still room for new Dutch initiatives, conservatory students and encounters between musicians of all generations. An attitude that still stands today.
Read more about the history of the BIMHUIS
