{"id":1350,"date":"2017-06-12T10:51:52","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T08:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/?page_id=1350"},"modified":"2026-03-25T17:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T16:40:17","slug":"biography-english","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/biography-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

English<\/em>:<\/span>

<\/span>Alex Koo<\/strong> (\u5e78, pronounced \/ko\u02d0\/) isn\u2019t your typical jazz pianist. Half Belgian, half Japanese, he was raised in a quiet corner of West Flanders by a former missionary and a peace activist\u2014an upbringing between cultures, and his music reflects exactly that.

Jazz, contemporary classical, indie, and film music bleed into one another in his cinematic soundworld, trademarked by long arcs of improvisation, lyrical compositions and unexpected silences.

Starting as a classical piano prodigy at age five, he fell hard for jazz in his teens\u2014later drawing praise from artists like Brad Mehldau, Kenny Werner, and Kurt Elling, and receiving international acclaim as \u201cstunningly original\u201d (Downbeat Magazine) and \u201cof the same rare level as Keith Jarrett\u201d (Trouw).

His breakout album Appleblueseagreen (2019)\u2014a haunting trio with Mark Turner and Ralph Alessi\u2014was named one of Downbeat\u2019s Best Albums of the Year. His latest, Blame It on My Chromosomes (W.E.R.F. records – 2025), pushes further into emotionally rich, genre-defying terrain: a deeply expressive record shaped by his long-time trio\u2014drummer Dr\u00e9 Pallemaerts and bassist Lennart Heyndels\u2014with a striking guest appearance by trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire.

Koo has received a number of significant honors along the way: Fulbright Scholar, BAEF Fellow, Prinses Christina Concours winner, and composition prizes on both sides of the classical\u2013jazz divide. Already at age ten, he was a laureate of the Cantabile Concours, where he also received the Emmanuel Durlet Prize (best interpretation) and the Chris Van Hoof Prize (youngest laureate).

He studied at the Conservatories of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and New York University (Steinhardt) on a full scholarship, where he also taught as adjunct faculty. Today, he is professor of jazz piano at LUCA School of Arts in Leuven\u2014though he\u2019s never been particularly fond of the term \u201cacademic.\u201d

Live or on record, Koo\u2019s music feels like a film that hasn\u2019t been made yet. Sometimes it\u2019s tender. Sometimes chaotic. Sometimes quietly absurd. But always unmistakably his.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nederlands<\/em>:<\/span>

<\/span>Weinig Belgen slagen erin om in het buitenland zoveel lof te oogsten als Alex Koo. In Duitsland wordt hij oncategoriseerbaar<\/em> genoemd (Jazzthetik), in Nederland geprezen als een pianist \u201cvan hetzelfde uitzonderlijke niveau als Keith Jarrett\u201d<\/em> (Trouw), en in de Verenigde Staten werden al twee van zijn albums geselecteerd in de \u201cBest Albums of the Year\u201d van het toonaangevende DownBeat Magazine, d\u00e9 internationale referentie in de jazzwereld. Zelfs de BBC noemde zijn muziek simpelweg \u201cgorgeous<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Als jongste zoon van een Japanse moeder en West-Vlaamse vader, startte hij al op zijn vijfde met piano als klassiek wonderkind en werd hij intussen al de hemel in geprezen door jazziconen als Kurt Elling, Kenny Werner en Brad Mehldau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koo ontving doorheen de jaren tal van belangrijke onderscheidingen, waaronder een Fulbright Scholarship, een BAEF Fellowship en een eerste prijs op het Prinses Christina Concours. Al op tienjarige leeftijd werd hij laureaat van het Cantabile Concours, waar hij ook de Emmanuel Durletprijs (beste interpretatie) en de Chris Van Hoofprijs (jongste laureaat) in de wacht sleepte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hij studeerde aan de conservatoria van Amsterdam, Kopenhagen en New York University (Steinhardt), waar hij ook als adjunct-docent actief was. Vandaag is hij hoofdvakdocent jazzpiano aan de LUCA School of Arts in Leuven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of het nu live is of op een plaat: Koo\u2019s muziek voelt aan als een film die nog gemaakt moet worden. Soms teder en zacht. Soms chaotisch en energiek. Maar altijd herkenbaar als de zijne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Isn’t it gorgeous.”<\/em> – BBC<\/strong> (UK)

“Contemplative yet lively, peace-seeking but intense, contrasts abound as Koo embraces jazz\u2019s freedom of expression without forsaking technique”<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 – Mojo <\/strong>(UK)

“One of the special pleasures of listening to jazz in the 2020s is hearing lineages that surprise. Those thoughts recurred in listening to the latest from Belgian\/Japanese pianist Alex Koo. His distinctive blend of jazz, neoclassical, ambient and minimalism is built on a solid foundation of contemporary jazz romanticism”<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 – DownBeat<\/strong> (US)

“Alex Koo has as many shimmering facets as a diamond”<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 – Jazzthetik<\/strong> (DE)

“Koo is more than a combination of the extended piano jazz story around Evans, Jarrett, Mehldau, Moran, Iverson and so on. Koo is Koo, please keep it that way!”<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 – Concerto<\/strong> (AT)

\u201cHeerlijk album van een toptalent\u201d<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 – De Standaard<\/strong> (BE)

“A wealth of great music, a delightful excess of ideas and class (\u2026) Koo’s playing is insane. Absolute world class”<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 1\/2 – Written In Music<\/strong> (NL)

“Un album qui restera comme un des meilleurs de 2025”<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 – Le Soir<\/strong> (BE)

“An exquisitely velvet tone, wonderful rhythmic timing, memorable melodic riffs and a preference for harmony over dissonance, the latter used judiciously in the overall blend.”<\/em> – UK Jazz News <\/strong>

“Op zijn nieuwe album is Alex Koo authentieker dan ooit”<\/em> – \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 – Trouw<\/strong> (NL)

“Without disguising their technical mastery, the trio refrain from any gratuitous virtuosity. The chemistry is born of a complicity that allows spontaneity and generosity to shine through, without either partner ever seeming to try to take all the limelight.<\/em>” – \u2605\u2605\u2605 – Jazz Mag<\/strong> (FR)

“Belgium is too small for pianist Alex Koo”<\/em> \u2013 De Tijd<\/strong> (BE)<\/p>\n\n\n

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English:Alex Koo (\u5e78, pronounced \/ko\u02d0\/) isn\u2019t your typical jazz pianist. Half Belgian, half Japanese, he was raised in a quiet corner of West Flanders by a former missionary and a peace activist\u2014an upbringing between cultures, and his music reflects exactly Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1350","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1350"}],"version-history":[{"count":108,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6466,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1350\/revisions\/6466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexkoomusic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}