Jan van Duikeren

Get to know Yamaha Artist and trumpet player Jan van Duikeren

Statement about your relation with Yamaha or your instrument:

I’ve been using both of my Shew horns for a couple of years now practically on a daily basis. There’s probably no better way to describe my relation with the instruments. And the dedicated people at the atelier in Hamburg are amazing. For me as a player, being able to share thoughts and experiences directly with the designers is a very inspiring and satisfying experience. They made me feel welcome from the very first moment we met.

How does your instrument help you in your daily life as an artist?

To me, my instruments are my voice,  an extention to my personality.  So, finding  the right horn is  a delicate choice. However, sometimes things just happen. I tried the YFH8310z Flugelhorn while I was waiting for a trumpet, and I was immediately blown away by the rich sound and it’s pleasant way to play it. I just kept playing on it…until today. The light response, accurate tuning and gentle sound makes even delicate passages more inviting instead of challenging and I love the sound, which is even more important of course.

Same goes for the trumpet. Main reasons to go for the the trumpet were it’s quick response, it’s seamless blending with other instruments and it’s well balanced sound over the range. So perfect characteristics for recording sessions and horn sections.  But even  to my own surprise I found myself  picking the Shew horn more and more for very different purposes, more than once encouraged by the positive feedback of fellow musicians or engineers.

Who was your most influential teacher and is there any advice which you still follow?

I have learned many things from many different people, and I still do.  My mentor Jarmo Hoogendijk is very dear to me. He learned me how to improvise and provided me with the best solos and records I could wish for. Today we both teach at Codarts Rotterdam. It’s great to be reunited with my former teacher and friend, also passing the knowledge he provided me with, to the young cats. 

Ad van Zon, former principal trumpet player of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, used to be my technical teacher. He always went back to the basics, like playing in the center of the note, taking care of the attack and airstream, play on the mouthpiece only which I hated as a student. I just wanted to play difficult stuff….but now I hear myself giving the exact same advices to younger people. He was right. 

Besides these two important people I think a lot about many other people who had a huge impact on me on many differentlevels. I want to pass the same positive swinging as Clark Terry, the subtleness of Kenny Durham, the swag of Freddie Hubbard, the soul of Stevie Wonder, the groove of Maceo Parker and so on…. But most important I want to treat people with the same kindness as Candy Dulfer used to treat me while we were touring, and trying to be the same inspiration to my fellow players as they are to me. The ability to meet or play with so many unique people around the world, all carrying their own stories and backgrounds to me is the most beautiful thing about music.

Advice for a young musician:

Go for it!  Play, learn, meet fellow players along the way, chase your dream, (whatever that may be) and enjoy every minute of the ride.

And don't worry: In case you’ll find out you don't have any talent at all you could always become a banker, politician or insurance employee or anything you want.