New Cool Collective has become an exceptionally tight unit, completely at ease performing on live television, in theatre productions, on giant festival stages, in tiny clubs, at jazz festivals, pop festivals, world music festivals and just about anywhere else imaginable.

It all started in 1993 at the Amsterdam based Soul Kitchen, where Benjamin Herman and DJ Graham B began collaborating. With Graham B spinning DJ sets and Benjamin playing saxophone, the first version of what would eventually become the eight piece New Cool Collective (NCC) was born, performing an irresistible mix of jazz, dance, Latin, salsa, Afrobeat and boogaloo.

Their debut albums, Soul Jazz Latin (1997) and More Soul Jazz Latin Flavours: Nineties Vibe (1998), introduced the band’s unique blend of Latin rhythms, DJ culture and energetic post bop and hard bop influences. The sound proved infectious for both listeners and club audiences alike. In 2000, the group expanded into a 20 piece big band for the album Big with Georgie Fame, while continuing to alternate with smaller line ups on later recordings. Along the way, they received several major awards, including the Edison Jazz Award, the Gouden Notekraker and the Heineken Crossover Music Award.

The band briefly signed to Sony to release Bring It On, featuring guest vocalists Geike Arnaert of Hooverphonic (“Comin’ Back for More”) and Andrew Roachford (“Bring It On”, “Do Anything”).

As pioneers of the Dutch jazz scene, the musicians were initially regarded as somewhat “strange.” Jazz purists considered their Soul Jazz Latin Flavours Nineties Vibe sound too hard and too fast. But once younger club audiences discovered this throbbing dance orchestra at Café Meander, the future had arrived. Soon, both jazz lovers and jazz sceptics found themselves unable to stay away.

In 2004, following a trip to Uganda, the band relaunched its recording career with the first in a long series of albums for Dox Records. Trippin’ was released as a double album featuring Afrobeat legend Tony Allen on drums. Between 2006 and 2010, they released two studio albums, Out of Office and Pachinko, as well as two live recordings. Later, they collaborated with Cuban rumberos Los Papines and Kenyan beat group Mapacha Africa on Sugar Protocol.

These releases led to performances at major pop and jazz festivals around the world, including Roskilde (Denmark), Fuji Rock (Japan), Lowlands (The Netherlands), the Montreal Jazz Festival (Canada), Cape Town Jazz Festival (South Africa) and Sziget (Hungary), as well as concerts in Senegal, Costa Rica, Korea, Kenya, Indonesia and many other countries.

“The New Cool Collective is all about the groove. The ensemble peppers the listener with crisp, quick melodies while delivering punchy rhythmic salvos meant to incite bodies to move move move. The Amsterdam based octet, and its individual members’ side projects, have been making this particular synthesis of danceable electricity for years and years.”
— Bandcamp, Best Jazz of November 2021

Over the past 30 years, New Cool Collective has released an impressive catalogue of 20 albums and collaborated with an astonishingly diverse range of artists, from Matt Bianco to Orchestra Baobab saxophonist Thierno Koité. Along the way, they have earned awards for film scores, hit records, popularity polls and even Benjamin Herman’s impeccable wardrobe.

Today, New Cool Collective remains one of the most energetic and versatile live bands in Europe, equally at home on live television, in theatre productions, on massive festival stages, in intimate clubs and everywhere in between.

New Cool Collective consists of saxophonist Benjamin Herman, guitarist Rory Ronde, drummer Joost Kroon, percussionists Frank van Dok and Jos de Haas, pianist Willem Friede, bassist Leslie Lopez and trumpeter David Rockefeller.