www.vibesworkshop.com

Homepage: www.drumusician.com

On the 7th of January 1981 Tjaco was born in Goes (a small town In the south of Holland). When he was about 7 years old he got his very first drum lesson from his uncle and since then he was hooked on the drums. After some lessons with his uncle he started playing snare drum with the local drum band and shortly after that began studying classical percussion and drums at the local music school.

Starting first on snare drum and timpani and later on moving more and more towards playing the drumset.
It was at this time that he also had some lessons on the xylophone and also got interested in playing the vibraphone.
After spending his childhood in his parents basement studying, he figured it was time to get serious. At the age of eighteen he entered the preliminary year at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and a year later started studying full time in Amsterdam.

In the 3rd year of the Conservatory he also started playing vibraphone. Tjaco graduated for his bachelor degree In 2003 and was admitted to the post graduate course. In 2006 he graduated for his master's degree.

Tjaco has always and still is striving to be as much an allround musician as he can be. Because of this he has had experience in playing with a variety of bands in a variety of styles and settings.

When he was about 15 years old he already played a lot of concerts with the local drum band and also was asked to play in other drum bands in the south of Holland. He participated in a lot of contests with these bands also. Next to playing in these more classical drum band setting, Tjaco also got into playing jazz at the age of 15. At this time he played in a band called 'Misty Jazz Band'. In this band he played with a a very young 'Rik Mol'. Rik is now one of the most successful trumpet players in Holland.

Once in Amsterdam Tjaco got into the jazz scene there and participated in a lot of different bands and also started a lot of his own projects.

Bands and projects Tjaco has played in on drums throughout his career as a steady drummer or as a substitute are: Don't Explain(vocal Jazz), Discover(funk and soul coverband), Diggin' The Groove(TOP/EW&F coverband), Reflections(Motown Band), Lean On me(coverband), Saskia Laroo Band, New Generation Big Band, Eric van de Kerkhof(Fusion band) and many other short projects.

Since 2001 Tjaco also participated in a lot of projects on vibes. These include: Modern Jazz Quartet tribute band, Vocal Vibes, The Vibe, Sax & Vibes and the Dave Sahanaja Project as well as many other short projects and jazz gigs. On vibes Tjaco mainly focuses on playing jazz and fusion.

Since 2009 Tjaco also started playing in theatre shows created by Xynix Opera, an organisation that focuses on creating opera shows for children. In these shows he plays Vibraphone and Drums.

Next to all the activities as a performing musician, Tjaco also teaches drums two days a week at the MZK music school in Haarlem and Heemstede.