Jan de Hont

Dutch guitarist and bass player, regarded as one of the pioneers of Dutch guitar music.
Born July 23, 1942, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Died March 12, 2026, in Laren, Netherlands.
He came to prominence in the 1960s as guitarist with ZZ En De Maskers, a group known for its theatrical Zorro masks and for combining Dutch language beat songs with instrumentals. In 1965 the band received an Edison award as the only beat group with an original Dutch repertoire. His guitar arrangement of La Comparsa, a piano piece by the Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, released in 1963, became one of the best known instrumentals in Dutch popular music. In the 1970s he played bass and guitar in the backing band of the cabaret duo Neerlands Hoop In Bange Dagen of Freek de Jonge and Bram Vermeulen, and he later worked with Bram Vermeulen En De Toekomst. He went on to become a much sought after session musician, working with artists including The Cats, Boudewijn de Groot, Jan Rot, Fay Lovsky and Frank Boeijen. He gave his farewell performance in May 2022 with ZZ En De Maskers in Almere and spent his final years at the Rosa Spier Huis in Laren, a residence for elderly artists.