Coming from a family with musical notes flowing freely in the gene pool, Bart Flos naturally drew to everything related to music. From an early age he was exposed to classical music and responded naturally to rythm and beat. After attending basic musical education (‘Algemene Muzikale Vorming’ or AMV) in the early seventies, Bart started out with the accordion, but there was always a piano in the house and he was drawn to that instrument like a magnet.
The first boogie-woogie tryouts and a growing fondness of traditional (‘Dixie Land’) jazz (Bart: ‘I am in possession of an LP signed in 1978 by all original members of the Dutch Swing College Band…’) laid a foundation for the blues and jazz to come. By the end of the seventies he fully switched to the piano and took classical music lessons from a piano teacher that also taught ‘light music’, which sparked his interest. At the end of this classical period Bart joined a preparation class for the jazz conservatory, since he was now spending more and more time on his jazz explorations, searching for chords and licks.
The first half of the eighties Bart founded several jazzgroups: Unit4 (with Tony van Kampen on bugel, Robert van der Kloet on the saxophones, Ralph Meulenbroeks on bass, and Willy van Duppen on drums), Sujazztion, Trio Triceps (with Paul Casimier on bass and Willy van Duppen on drums) and joined the local jazz scene in Eindhoven.
He decided not to go to the conservatory (his business career took an entirely different direction; if you want to know where to, click here), but to seek out 4th or 5th year conservatory (jazz piano) students at the music conservatory in Hilversum to take jazz lessons for 25 guilders an hour, that always turned into improvisation sessions of several hours. Bart also took jazz improvisation lessons from Bart de Win, a student at the Rotterdam Conservatory at the time. This way, theory and practice were securely joined together. By 1989 he co-founded the Sonic Blast Big Band Eindhoven and in February of 1989 he joined a master class with Louis van Dijk at the Music School Eindhoven.
The early nineties were full of Jazz activities. Bart joined the Heidy Crooymans Trio and the Paula Snoeren Swing Connection, in both formations playing with Rinus Raaijmakers on bass, founded the Jazz Quintet Lift-Off and the Sextet Intersection, got busy with the Sonic Blast Big Band (studio recordings, Tros Sesjun Big Band Festival, to name some high lights) and developed a more firm plan to form his own Jazz Trio.
Bebop Jazz Trio Triceps was founded in March 1994. It bore the same name as the one in the early eighties, but had a new drummer (Cees van Rooden) and bass player (Wiecher van Vugt). Triceps developed a mixture of existing bebop jazz tunes and original compositions by Bart Flos. They joined in on several jazz festivals, performed a live studio gig in the Omroep Brabant Radio Studio’s and were active in bars and clubs both in and out of the Eindhoven region.
By the end of 1996 Triceps recorded a CD, Recognition, in the Markant Recording Studios in Heeze. It contained 12 bebop tunes of which 3 were originals. The CD was released regionally in the spring of 1997. It was the crown on almost three years of hard work to get Triceps its own musical signature.
However, by the end of the nineties, Bart musical genes pushed him in new musical directions and he decided to stop all jazz band activities. It was the Spring of 1999 and something new was coming. Digital MIDI technology (keyboards, sounds, mixing) gave him the opportunity to explore and develop new piano skills, chords and licks, besides playing jazz on the acoustic piano. The idea grew to put this all together in a project and record a solo CD to underline these new ideas and ambitions. It could than be regarded as a milestone, a new start to join in with a new generation musicians and take it from there.
It took about a year to prepare, to sort out, and to choose from his musical collection and by the beginning of the new millennium the NextSteps Series Solo Projects set up was ready. The first recording day was set on April the 19th, 2000. A dedicated website accomoanied the release of his first solo CD as Stage 1 of NextSteps Projects: NextSteps / Crossing Over, Bart Flos / Solo.
By that time Bart was already engaging in new musical activities, performing solo in the Omroep Brabant Studio’s, joining the USA Jazz Connect /Recording Competition, playing as pianist at a Rabo Prom Gala Concert with Ernst Daniel Smid and Heidy Crooymans and joining the Top-40 Bakerstreet Theaterband. It encouraged and challenged him to keep improving his techniques and seeking his own style of playing, with musical ideas flowing constantly.
Bart in 2026: “For more than 25 years now, ever since the release of my first solo album in 2000, things have been moving forward steadily, step by step and stage by stage, creating musical projects when I want it and how I want it. It has resulted in the 2019 Stage 6 megaproject ‘Roots & Reflections’, a 3CD jazz album performed both solo and with a jazz trio, and the 2026 Stage 7 ‘Clarity of Vision’ solo adventure, again a 3CD jazz album recorded on a magnificent concert grand piano, the Faziola F308.
I’m very proud and satisfied that I was able to be both executive producer ánd musician on these projects. I had the means ánd the opportunity and grabbed it with both my piano hands. You can follow the rest of my biography since 2000 under the sub-menu’s Audio and NextStepsProjects. All in all it’s been a lot of fun, quite a journey and I thank all that inspired me to keep me going. And of course, I thank you kindly for your interest.”
To go to the various CD’s click here. To go to the various NextSteps Projects click here.
