BIOGRAFIE
Drummer Jean-Clair de Ruwe (IJsselstein 1982) took his first drum lessons when he was 10 years old and played in a local marching band. In his early teens he began to practice seriously and he played in several orchestras.
In 1998 Jean-Clair was 16 years old and was admitted to the "young talent class" at the Utrecht conservatory of which Jean-Clair graduated cum laude in 2004.
In the following years Jean-Clair felt he wasn't ready for the real deal. Also, life took some different paths. During those years gained more experience in different musical settings, and studied a lot at home. In 2011 Jean-Clair saved some money and made his first trip to the Big Apple to get some lessons. Jean-Clair also had his first gig in New York at that time.
In 2016 his determination and talent were rewarded when he received a grant from the Mignon foundation. This enabled him to go back to New York to study with masters Rodney Green and Kenny Washington.
Jean-Clair shared the stage with: Roy Hargrove, Joe Cohn, Charles McPherson, John Marshall, Howard Alden, Philip Harper, (USA) Bert Joris (BE) Ack van Rooyen, Ferdinand Povel, Benjamin Herman, Frits Landesbergen, Bart van Lier, Martijn van Iterson, Rob van Bavel, Bert van de Brink, Ronald Douglas, Denise Jannah, And orchestral collaborations: Millenium Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Art Orchestra, JWF Johan Willem Friso Kapel JWF (Army orchestra)
Beside playing the drums, he is also active as an organiser of music events and has worked together with several national and international well known artists. An example of these music events take place in club Back&Fourth and wine bar VinVin in Utrecht.
He played with several orchestra such as :
Millenium Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Art Orchestra, JWF Johan Willem Friso Kapel JWF (Army orchestra)
Jean - Clair played concerts in Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany and the US.
Jean-Clair werkt momenteel als free-lance drummer en speelt met groepen als het Gidon Nunes Vaz Quintet en Sextet en het Martien Oster Trio.