Gent Jazz Festival / Line-up

The 81-year old American jazz guitarist, Jim Hall is a living legend. Many of his colleagues, including some other legends, unabashedly praise his talent. Some names that come to mind include Bill Frisell, John Scofield, and Pat Metheny. The master of lyrical understatement and beautiful melodic phrasing will be coming to Ghent, together with the superb bassist, Scott Colley.

Read more

Since its first trio album in 1995, the Brad Mehldau Trio has become one of the top ensembles in contemporary jazz. Mehldau’s mixes melancholic and romantic tunes with exciting swing music. Together with bass player Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard, Brad Mehldau founded an elegant and brilliant trio. Their latest album is called Ode.

Read more

Gretchen Parlato was included in several year-end lists with her album ‘The Lost and Found’. She is blessed with one of the most seductive timbres in jazz and has an amazing sense of rhythm. Like many Brazilian singers she seems to have the knack of eschewing bars. She creates drama with a whisper-voice and surrounds herself with a skillful band.

Read more

Ifa y Xango is a contemporary jazz ensemble based in Brussels and Antwerp. The name refers to two dualities in afro-latino religion. Ifa represents traditional knowledge and wisdom while Xango refers to fire, dance and passion. These two sides of the same coin are represented in their music as well. .

Read more

‘To hell with the rules’. Those are the catchwords of jazz legend Wayne Shorter. After a more quiet period, he started a new promising acoustic quartet. The beginning of a second youth. The 78 years old jazz legend, saxophonist and composer still appears to be youthful. As a lot of older jazz musicians, he is surrounded by younger, brilliant musicians. His previous concerts in Belgium showed an overwhelming relationship and explosive power between the band members. Drummer Brian Blade stands for drama and intensity, piano player Danilo Perez is an absolute one man orchestra and bass player John Patitucci is essential for creating the ‘wow moments’ during concerts.

Read more

On July 7 the SABAM Jazz Awards will be awarded at Gent Jazz Festival. A prize with the value of 10,000 Euros will be assigned to the winner of the category "Established Value". The future is naturally kept in mind: the winner of the category "Young Talent" will be allocated a prize of 5,000 Euros, in collaboration with 'Jeugd en Muziek'. The goal of this prize money ist to boast the musical career of the young musicians. Besides these two prizes, Sabam also awards the 'Muze van Sabam'. This is an additional award, assigned to a Belgian jazz personality who has used his or her reputation in order to support the world of jazz.

Read more

Saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpet player Dave Douglas met at the San Francisco Jazz Collective. Today, they perform together in a wonderful quintet. They both master their instruments perfectly and organize ardently numerous tours and projects.

Read more

Last year, Fabrice Alleman won the Sabam Jazz Award. And rightly so! The 45 years old saxophonist coming from Mons has been a highly-ranked jazz player in Belgium for years. As a hard-working composer, he plays the tenor, soprano and the alto saxophone as well as the clarinet and the flute.

Read more

Read more

‘The Absence’, Melody Gardot’s third album and the follow-up to her critically acclaimed international bestseller, ‘My One and Only Thrill’ is scheduled for release by end May 2012. Gardot always succeeds in striking a balance between vulnerability and cool seduction. Her music seems to be steeped in unfulfilled longing. The story of 27-year old Melody Gardot’s career reads like a fairy tale. She already gave a concert at the Ghent Jazz Festival in 2009, which was warmly received.

Read more

Twelve years ago the trio, The Bad Plus launched a modest new movement in jazz, with the pizzazz of a rock band and a keen eye. Their guest saxophonist, Joshua Redman, continues to create new projects and has an exceptional command of his instrument.

Read more

Saxophonist Robin Verheyen soon earned a reputation for himself in Belgium as a jazz saxophonist, because of his eagerness to perform but also because of his style. He is generally wilder and more fiery than the average saxophonist on the soprano saxophone while taking a more considered, a more painterly approach on the tenor saxophone. Verheyen lives in New York where he formed his New York Quartet. This spring the quartet will release its first album, ‘Trinity’ on 52Creations, the label of Dré Pallemaerts and Anne Recour.

Read more

Three prominent American jazz musicians left for Cuba for an opportunity to play with their Cuban counterparts in Havana. Ninety Miles is the stunning outcome of this adventure. The sophistication of the musical dialogue was impressive and the cultural differences proved to be easy to overcome. The colours of Cuba and American swing were seamlessly blended into a musical statement about the power of music which sidesteps politics and diplomacy.

Read more

With his characteristic voice, Anthony Hegarty creates a complete own style and sound which made him able to win the public’s enthusiasm. His album ‘I am a Bird Now’ won all different kinds of prizes and made Antony a rather outrageous world star. During this concert, Antony will be accompanied by Metropole Orchestra.

Read more

Liesa Van der Aa took everyone by surprise this spring with her original debut, ‘Troops’. She processes her own compositions with nothing more than a violin, vocals and loop stations and succeeds in weaving a world of sound that is entirely her own. She veers between the avant-garde, moody soundscapes and rock music thanks to the combination of classical training and her urge to experiment.

Read more

The Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice does not record many albums, gives rarely interviews and only performed sporadically during the past year. His last appearance in Belgium dates from 2007, but he nevertheless stands his ground in the troops of singer-songwriters.

Read more

Tindersticks call to mind a warm melancholic world. Rich orchestrated songs, the voice of front man Stuart A. Staples lead to a stylish universe filled with British soul noir.

Read more

Amatorski (the name derives from the Polish word for amateuristic) was founded in 2008 and gave its first noteworthy performance at the 10th edition of the Rockrally. Their first album ‘Same Stars We Shared’ with the single ‘Come Home’ exposed the first miniatures of Amatorski while their following album ‘TBC’, which was released in 2011 and contained eight songs, showed a more extensive and richer colour palette: somewhat cold and dark, threatening, dreamy, compelling, silent, noisy, minimal and sometimes with a touch of drama added to it.

Read more

A sold-out European tour this spring, praiseworthy comments after their performance at Cirque Royal in February and the release of a new album titled ‘Area 52’. A few years ago Rodrigo y Gabriela were already present at Gent Jazz Festival where they were one of the unexpected surprises of the festival. Normally performing in duo, they will be accompanied by a Cuban band this summer.

Read more

(Nl) nd met 4 grootheden uit de Jamaïcaanse muziek brengt het beste van de jazz en reggae samen. Deze gelegenheidsband werd speciaal samengesteld om de 50ste verjaardag van de Jamaïcaanse onafhankelijkheid te vieren.

Read more

After his first album ‘Ghostboy’ (2004), Gabriel Rios was repeatedly described as the ‘Puerto Rican of Ghent’. It would be incorrect to consider this statement to be a lie, since this globe-trotter alternates Ghent with Chinatown, New York. Because Rios doesn’t like to take the easy ways out, he is always chasing new challenges.

Read more

No incoming news about D’Angelo during the past ten years. During the 90’s and in the beginning of the year 2000, he developed into the star of soul. His albums ‘Brown Sugar’ and ‘Voodoo’ were considered to be instant classics. At the beginning of this year, he made his long-expected comeback with some well appreciated European concerts in Paris, in the Paradiso in Amsterdam and many more. 2012 must be the year of D’Angelo’s comeback.

Read more

(Nl) Soulveteraan, songschrijver en gitarist Bobby Womack scoorde hits met onder meer 'Across 110th Street' en 'Harry Hippie'. Enkele jaren geleden dook hij op aan de zijde van Mos Def bij Gorillaz in het nummer ‘Stylo’. Blijkbaar viel de samenwerking met Damon Albarn dermate mee dat Albarn besloot het nieuwe album van Womack mee te producen. In juni komt 'The Bravest Man In The Universe' uit op het hippe XL Recordings dat door de platenbaas van label Richard Russell werd geproducet.

Read more

(Nl) STUFF. is een jong instrumentaal improvisatiecollectief dat door drummer Lander Gyselinck werd opgestart. STUFF. staat voor muzikale referenties naar jazz, soul, funk, dub, hip-hop, jungle, elektronica… Als voorprogramma van Robert Glasper Experiment deden ze in april de Handelsbeurs in Gent al beven. Het is dus zeker en vast uitkijken naar hun passage op Gent Jazz Festival!

Read more