Pianist · Composer · Psychiatrist
GideonvanGelder
Pianist and composer moving between jazz, Brazilian music, hip-hop and broken beat electronica — from touring with internationally renowned artists to leading his own acclaimed groups.
Pianist and composer moving between jazz, Brazilian music, hip-hop and broken beat electronica — from touring with internationally renowned artists to leading his own acclaimed groups.
Gideon van Gelder is a pianist and composer based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His work ranges from broken beat electronica to jazz, Brazilian music and hip-hop.
As a teenager, van Gelder won the Princess Christina Concours. One of his first performances to catch the public eye was alongside alto saxophonist Benjamin Herman, notably on the Edison Award–winning record 'Campert', featuring Dutch poet Remco Campert. Around the same time, he also worked with comedian Hans Teeuwen, featured on piano on the live album and DVD 'Hans Teeuwen Zingt!'.
In 2008 van Gelder moved to New York City, where he quickly joined vocalist José James' touring band, playing venues from Glastonbury to Billboard Live Tokyo and Centro Cultural de São Paulo, alongside numerous stateside appearances. James' sophomore album 'Black Magic' featured van Gelder on keys and production, alongside Flying Lotus and Moodymann.
In New York he graduated from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, studying with Vijay Iyer, Jean-Michel Pilc and George Cables. He was selected as a Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead fellow at the Kennedy Center and received the Andrew Hill Award, before recording his first album as a leader, 'Perpetual' — with Becca Stevens on vocals — crafting an immersive, lyrical group sound that met critical acclaim internationally.
Back in Amsterdam, van Gelder became a sought-after sideman, working with Jamire Williams (ERIMAJ), Takuya Kuroda, Jameszoo and Brazilian vocalist Lilian Vieira, before recording 'Lighthouse' with his own group on his label, Rosen Records — his most personal and expressive work to date.
Alongside performing and composing, van Gelder works as a psychiatrist, with a focus on psychoanalytic psychotherapy and the connection between music and therapy — practicing at his own practice, Lighthouse, and at Inter-Being Psychologists in Amsterdam.
