Space Quartet

• Gent Jazz
  Sunday 5•July•2026
  19:35•
• Gent Jazz
  Sunday 5•July•2026
  21:20•

Improvised music that takes you on a psychedelic journey

SPACE Quartet is an improvisational collective founded by Nicolas Mortelmans, following the release of his second album 'SPACE'.

Nicolas Mortelmans is a Belgian sitar player who studied under, among others, Anoushka Shankar. 

In April 2024, he released his debut album 'MĀYĀ' on WERF records, followed by a club tour across Belgium and abroad. In Belgium, Nicolas performed at festivals such as Gent Jazz and Sfinks, and received airplay on Radio 1 and Klara. In October 2025, he unveiled his second album, 'SPACE', on Rotkat Records. For this project, Mortelmans teamed up in the studio with Roland Van Campenhout, Stef Kamil Carlens, Tim Vanhamel, and Simon Segers. The result is a raw, spontaneous, and deeply honest album, built entirely on improvisation. 

With SPACE, he reconnects with his musical roots, exploring the intersections of psychedelic rock, ambient, funk, and jazz. On stage, these explorations take on a new dimension, that shift between meditative stillness and explosive intensity. Nicolas presents the album live through fully improvised performances with the SPACE Quartet.

The live SPACE Quartet consists of:

Nicolas Mortelmans: Sitar

Tim Vanhamel: Gitaar, Electronics

Stef Kamil Carlens: Bass

Teun Verbruggen: Drums

For fans of: Anoushka Shankar, John McLaughlin, Nala Sinephro