Born in 1995 in Genk, Belgium, Gert-Jan Dreessen has quickly become one of the most exciting jazz drummers of his generation.

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After studies in Leuven, Cologne and Antwerp, he spent 2019–2020 in New York with the support of BAEF, MERIT and the Flemish Government. Rather than serving merely as a period of study, this time marked an important international turning point, expanding his artistic network and sharpening his development as a drummer-composer.

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Dreessen is known for his sharp musical intuition and wide sound palette. His work moves between contemporary jazz, composed music and free improvisation, often unfolding through extended (long-form) musical forms shaped by direction, development, intuition, interaction, musicality and craft.

 

He has performed internationally with musicians including Bert Joris, Logan Richardson, John O’Gallagher, Shai Maestro and Nduduzo Makhathini, and is a regular member of ensembles such as Flat Earth Society Orchestra, Jeroen Reggers and the Tomer Cohen Quartet.

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With his quartet — featuring Bram De Looze (piano), Jean-Paul Estiévenart (trumpet) and Cyrille Obermüller (bass) — he focuses on original compositions that balance structure and freedom. His project Dimensions further expands this language by bringing together jazz quintet and string quartet in a unified musical framework.

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In 2024, he was selected by VRT/Klara as one of “De Twintigers,” recognizing emerging artists with a distinct voice. As part of the program, his quartet recorded a live session in the legendary Toots Studio. That same year, his performance with Flat Earth Society at Lincoln Center (New York) was selected by The New York City Jazz Record as one of the best New York concerts of 2024.

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In 2025, Dreessen released his debut album Angle of Incidence, which received strong international response and extensive airplay across Europe, the United States, Japan and South America. The album was selected by Focus Knack as one of the Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2025 and received the designation “Révélation” from Jazz Magazine (France), confirming his voice as a composer and bandleader.

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Alongside his performing career, Dreessen remains active in education and curatorship. Between 2021 and 2024, he taught jazz as a guest professor at LUCA School of Arts in Leuven, and he continues to curate a concert series at CC De Bogaard in Sint-Truiden.

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He has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa and Mexico. While his international presence continues to grow, his artistic practice remains firmly connected to the Belgian jazz scene.

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“Intelligent, layered and irresistibly beautiful.”​

— Focus Knack (BE) (Top 10 Jazzalbums 2025)​​​​

“In an astonishingly short amount of time, this young drummer has established himself as an artist to be reckoned with”

                                                              — Flagey, JazzLab