Reinier Baas wins the Boy Edgar Prize 2025
12 January 2026
Guitarist and composer Reinier Baas (1985) is the winner of the Boy Edgar Prize 2025, the most important prize in Dutch jazz and improvised music. That was just announced in our podcast injazz on NPO Luister. The jury praised him as an innovator of jazz who uniquely combines tradition and experimentation, inspiring and guiding a new generation of musicians. This recognition of his influence in Dutch jazz is at the perfect time. He toured this season with the Metropole Orkest.
About Reinier Baas, an innovative force within jazz
The jury praises Reinier Baas as an innovative force within jazz. According to the jury, he has a unique ability to combine tradition and experimentation, inspiring a new generation of musicians while making complex music accessible to a broad audience. With two Edison Awards, eleven albums as a (co-)leader, and collaborations with musicians like Louis Cole, Dave Douglas, Mary Halvorson, and Gregory Porter, Baas is one of the most versatile and influential guitarists of his generation. His hybrid musical language, which blends influences from Bartók, Stravinsky, hip-hop, and improvisation, earned him international recognition and commissions from the Metropole Orkest, Pynarello, the Royal Concertgebouw, November Music, and the Südtirol Jazzfestival, among others.
Additionally, he is active in projects such as Deadeye and BUGHOUSE, and has formed a close duo with saxophonist Ben van Gelder for years, often accompanied by musicians like Han Bennink and Jeff Ballard. Last November, he released, together with Kit Downes and Jonas Nurgwinkel, the new album In Orbit.
Baas is affiliated with the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Jazzcampus Basel, and in the 2025-2026 season, he will be conducting the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. With this, he is playing a growing role in the development of a new generation of jazz musicians.
About the Boy Edgar Prize
Since 2022, the Performing Arts Fund NL has been organising the selection process, and a jury chooses the winner. This year, the jury consisted of Susanna von Canon, Corrie van Binsbergen, Karima El Fillali, Coen Witteveen, Mischa Andriessen, Loes Rusch, and chair Cécile de Vos. The episode with the announcement is available via the injazz podcast on NPO Luister and all major podcast platforms. The prize will be presented in a festive ceremony in March by the Performing Arts Fund NL and is supported by Buma Cultuur and injazz. Previous winners include Tony Roe, Monica Akihary, and Ronald Snijders.
Read a recent interview with Reinier Baas on his role as artistic leader of NJJO in our injazz in words section.