Michael Simon, a very original jazz trumpeter and composer based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, has had a wide-ranging career filled with colorful projects. While his playing and compositions have their roots in his Venezuelan heritage, swinging hard bop, and Afro-Cuban jazz, it is never predictable and often goes in surprising directions.

In 2017 Michael released his forth recording, Asian Connection. “This is my second CD recorded live at Kuala Lumpur’s premier jazz club No Black Tie for the NBT label,” says the trumpeter. “It brings Chung Yufeng, a traditional player of the Pipa (a Chinese ethnic string-instrument) into the mix of a modern jazz combo. She captures the very essence of Chinese music with her sound, phrasing and nuances. The group adopted the same name as the album, and is also comprised of the same Malaysian rhythm section as on the previous CD Destiny’s Will (pianist Michael Veerapen, bassist Daniel Foong and drummer John Thomas) plus  Terry Hsieh, a sensitive Taiwanese saxophonist and composer based in Taipei. The contact with Asian music and the interactions with Malaysian musicians have impacted my music drastically and have resulted in many new ideas.” Experiencing a cultural transcendence between the West and the Far East, Michael’s music has become reinvented through these new associations. Asian Connection has already had great success performing at the Borneo Jazz Festival in Malaysia.

Following the release of Asian Connection, Michael Simon toured the Netherlands and Taiwan with key artists of the project. The uniqueness of his concept, the brilliance of his playing, and the joyful surprises that are found throughout his music were warmly embraced by audiences of the Tong Tong Festival in The Hague,  Amsterdam’s Red Light Jazz Festival, the Taichung Jazz Festival and the Taipei Jazz Festival in Taiwan.

The trumpeter has always seen jazz as an unlimited platform in which all types of music can be combined and renewed without losing their essence or creativity. Born and raised in Venezuela, Michael’s father Hadsy Simon was a guitarist and singer who loved and played boleros, and his brothers, pianist Edward and drummer / percussionist Marlon, were already professional musicians throughout his childhood.  Michael began trumpet lessons when he was 12 and spent 1989-91 in Havana, Cuba attending the Ignacio Cervantes Music School. In 1993 he moved to the Netherlands to study jazz at the Rotterdam Conservatory where he earned a degree in arranging and composition. Michael began working regularly with percussionist Gerardo Rosales within a year and in 1996 joined Fra Fra Sound, an association that has continued for over 20 years.