Dutch Jazz Times: Featured Venue

The Bimhuis Amsterdam

Founded in 1974 the Bimhuis in Amsterdam is one of the major jazz venues in the Netherlands. The original Bimuis was located in a former furniture showroom on the Oude Schans, close to Amsterdam’s Red Light district. The name Bimhuis stems from the name of an organization (or perhaps more accurately described as a lobby group) founded in 1971 known as “Beroepsvereniging voor Improviserende Musici” or BIM. This organization acquired the original building and converted it into a jazz venue that would become an icon of the Dutch jazz scene.

Apart from providing a venue for bands on the cutting edge of Dutch jazz including among others the Instant Composers Pool and the Willem Breuker Kollektief the Bimhuis became internationally renowned as the premiere Dutch venue for improvised music. Renowned internationl bandleaders as Charles Mingus, Archie Shepp, Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra considered the Bimhuis one of thier favorite European venues. Over the years the Bimhuis has been host to the crème de la crème of the jazz world as well as being instrumental in supporting local talent, many of which have gone on to achieve international recognition.

In 2005, having outgrown the accommodation on the Oude Schans, The Bimhuis moved to Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. Today the venue remains the center of the Amsterdam jazz scene presenting around 300 concerts per year featuring both local and international jazz artists. The importance of the Bimhuis within the Dutch and European jazz world was confirmed by the European Union when the venue was granted ongoing funding through a grant from the European Jazz Odyssey Program.

The Bimhuis is located at
Piet Heinkade 3
1019 BR Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Below are some tips for concerts in the Bimhuis in March 2010. You can check out the full program on the Bimhuis website

Sun 06 Mar 2011 20:30

NUEVA MANTECA PRESENTS:

REQUIEM PARA EL MUNDO & TANGO CON CLAVE

Sat 12 Mar 2011 20:30

ROSARIO GIULIANI & ENRICO PIERANUNZI

STEFFEN SCHORN UNIVERSE OF POSSIBILITIES

Thu 17 Mar 2011 20:30

METROPOLE ORCHESTRA BIG BAND

WITH TIM RIES & BERNARD FOWLER

Thu 17 Mar 2011 20:30