Frank van der Kooij founded NDIO in 2001This project had its roots in the long-standing cooperation between Hugh Hopper and Frank van der Kooij during the Hugh Hopper Band period (1985-2001).

With NDIO he wanted to create a new way of working which would be more fexible and with different musicians for each project. First there was the New Dutch Improvisation Orchestra but this was verry soon changed into Never Dance In Orange. The idea came to existans to work like a symfonie orchestra and produce a lot of different concerts each season.

In the mean time this results that NDIO had been working with

more than 30 musicians from England, Holland, France and Belgium.

The main group was also called NDIO and had always been equipped with Hugh Hopper and Frank van der Kooij. This project suddenly ended by the death of Hugh Hopper in June 2009.  A long and inspiring relations between the two musicians resulted in many concerts and CD’s. Later NDIO also created two CD’s with Hugh Hopper on bass. The CD “ Airback “ ( Cuneiform Records ) got many good reviews all over the world.

Not always it’s necessarily so that  the end of a project means the end of a group working together. A few groups now work as a band like : “ Frank van der Kooij’s Horizon ‘’.

Still the NDIO project creates more and new projects with new musicians and other disciplines.

Look at Projects '' coming ''.

Ambient and jazz in one coat. Experimental mixture of electric and acoustic instruments during an adventurus enterprise. This group unplugged itself from all the traditions in music and creats an impro world in which they can move around freely.

The Cortex Unplugged as they say is a whirlwind of possibilitys and idea's suited round the elementair bass of Hugh Hopper. With Mark Hewins ( Gong, Bob Geldoff, Lou Reed ) it's eating and drinking for the ears.

Unfortunated, this band is also not existing anymore after the death of Hugh Hopper