About
Pianist and singer Jan Luley is not only considered one of the most authentic European artists for New Orleans piano and classical jazz. Also for the historical development of early jazz, culture and lifestyle, Creole cuisine and other topics around the birthplace of jazz, he has been a veteran connoisseur of the scene for many years. Since 1996 he has been countless times in this special city, learned from and played with their musicians and is closely associated with the local music scene. In 2011, Jan Luley received a certificate from Mitchell Landrieu, then mayor of New Orleans, in recognition of his services to the musical tradition and musicians in New Orleans.
Jan Luley is one of the most virtuoso and grooviest pianists of our time. His love for New Orleans creole and piano music is in the air, and his music is a gift steeped in overwhelming energy, profound jokes and deep emotions that resonate through the keyboard.
Jan Luley studied jazz with a major in piano in the Netherlands and celebrated his 35th anniversary in 2018. His musical focus is on piano styles from New Orleans between tradition and modernity, where he combines compositions from New Orleans with his own works to equally exciting and groovy concerts. At the same time, he moves with style in classical jazz and swing, as in boogie woogie, gospel, and Creole-Caribbean rhythms.
Already more than 2,000 concerts in 17 European countries, as well as in Africa and the USA, Jan Luley played solo or in various international formations.
He is also active as an organizer, artistic director and consultant for festivals and concert series, as well as a dedicated lecturer in blues and jazz workshops in Germany and abroad. After studying jazz piano in Arnhem, the Netherlands, he completed a postgraduate course in cultural management in Hamburg.
In 1993 he began accompanying internationally acclaimed American singers and soloists such as Angela Brown, Janice Harrington, John Boutte, Big Jay McNeely, Gene "Mighty Flea" Conners and many others and from 1999 to 2009 was the pianist of the Frankfurt Barrelhouse Jazzband. In 2004 Jan Luley founded his label Luleymusic Records. Together with his wife Eda, he leads the agency LULEY'S - MarketingDesignPhotografie as co-owner and creative director. Since 2007 he has organized the Classic Jazz Workshop and the LIVE JAZZ - New Orleans Music Festival Bad Hersfeld.