In the late seventies Greetje Bijma (1956) began her musical career giving concerts for private audiences. In 1979 she met pianist/composer/performer Harry de Wit, who subsequently stimulated her to concentrate on the possibilities of her voice.
In 1980 saxophone player and composer Alan Laurillard asked Greetje Bijma -who is autodidact- to join his Improvised Music Ensemble. Shortly afterwards, Alan Laurillard organised the Noodband, with Greetje Bijma as guest singer. After a succesfull concert at the 'Groningse Jazzdagen' in 1981, they toured in the Netherlands and abroad.
In 1984 she formed with Alan Laurillard the Greetje Bijma Quintet. The resulting publicity after the quintet record made it possible to receive concert offers not only in the jazz scene, but also from the theatre and rock sectors.
In 1989 Greetje Bijma made an European tour with the vocal quintet Direct Sound, an initiative of the American drummer and voice performer David Moss
The international breakthrough of Greetje Bijma came after her successful concert at the Jazzfest in the Philharmonie in Berlin, november 1989. After this Greetje was invited by festival- and concertorganizers in Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy and France.
In december 1990 Greetje Bijma was presented the Boy Edgar Award, the greatest honour awarded to a jazz artist in the Netherlands.
In recent years Greetje Bijma has concentrated on solo concerts. In these performances she attempts to exploit every possibility of her voice. These concerts take place in concert halls, theatres and galleries in the Netherlands and abroad.
Sometimes Greetje Bijma joins the Willem Breuker Kollektief. She presently performs duo with the Dutch composer/pianist Louis Andriessen. In 1993 she prepared a special programma for children for Antwerp, Cultural Main City of Europe. In the same year she started a new trio with pianist Marilyn Crispell (piano) and Mark Dresser (bass), both from the USA.
