Multi-award winning saxophonist Kasper Rietkerk, collaborated with artists as Eddie Chacon, John Caroll Kirby, Jean Toussaint, and many others. He is also a member of the Emma Rawicz Jazz Orchestra. His diverse career includes appearances on various TV and radio programs. Kasper has been awarded with the VDEF Next Step Award in 2025 by VandenEnde Foundation and with the Brubeck Living Legacy Prize in July 2024, by the Royal Academy of Music and Brubeck Living Legacy. The album, The Happy Worrier, that he recorded with the prize money from the Brubeck Living Legacy was launched at PizzaExpress Live on the 23rd of June, 2025. This is an intergenerational project that features some of the UK’s greatest musicians: John Parricelli, Tom Herbert, Jonah Evans and Rebecka Edlund.
“Rietkerk’s writing is impeccable: memorable themes, unexpected twists, and, above all else, space for the band to breathe.” – Tom Spargo, Jazzwise (2025)
In 2023, Kasper and his London-based sextet KRSIX recorded a full-length album, The Island, released on Zennez Records, which won the Edison Jazz Award 2025 in the Newcomer category. On June 24, 2024, it launched at a sold-out PizzaExpress Live Soho, followed by a tour through the UK. The Island features original compositions by Kasper, arranged for his sextet, along with a string quartet, and includes guest appearances by Emma Rawicz, Anatole Muster, and Immy Churchill. In January 2025, the band released a new EP “Live in London,” featuring more of Kasper’s original compositions. The album and EP have been played on radio shows in the UK and Netherlands.
★★★★ – ‘Rietkerk’s alto work is first-rate, melodic and capable of delicacy as well as power.’ – Neil Duggan, All About Jazz (2024)
Kasper began playing saxophone at a young age and was inspired by the sounds of saxophonists like Cannonball Adderley, Kenny Garrett, and Paul Desmond. After completing his bachelor’s degree, Kasper moved to London and graduated from his master’s at the Royal Academy of Music in 2023, where he received an award for his final exam performance.
★★★★ 1/2★ “An incredibly gifted jazz talent… now leads to his stunning second album The Happy Worrier.” – Dick Hovenga, Written in Music (2025)
Kasper released two albums and an EP as part of the Dutch group Das Sound Kollektiv, most notably achieving success with their ‘+1’ release, which featured collaborations with various singers and rappers, including Ntjam Rosie, Ruben Hein, Rico, and Tennishu (Butcher Brown). In February 2022, he released his home-recorded and self-produced EP, ‘alt.esc’. From 2019 to 2021, he played lead alto in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of the Netherlands, which was led by Ruben Hein.
★★★ – ‘All of this marks a promising debut album full of Rietkerk’s bittersweet and well-crafted compositions.‘ – Jazzwise (2024)
‘Great alto sound that carried strongly over the band’ Jason Yarde
‘Fantastic saxophonist’ Jean Toussaint
“At the best moments, Kasper Rietkerk more than fulfills the promise of his debut.” – Gijsbert Kramer, Volkskrant (2025)
“Tracks like Lost In Glow and Scream For Silence show Rietkerk’s characteristic melodic power and his eye for detail.” – Arjan Klaver, Jazzism (2025)
“Clearly a big achievement and among the best, most fully rounded, records I have heard this year.” – Marlbank (2025)
“…definitely one of my favourite releases of the year so far….”
Helen Mayhew, Jazz FM The British Jazz Show
“…I love the way they subtly depart and return to that elegiac melody (‘Scream For Silence’)”
Soweto Kinch, BBC Radio 3 – ‘Round Midnight
“There is a shimmering, painterly quality to much of the album, making this a quiet, contemplative pleasure. Rietkerk gives the band the freedom to balance restraint with improvisational flair.” — Neil Duggan, All About Jazz, 2025