Every year, Belgium Booms and JazzLab collaborate with an existing renowned jazz event via an international visitors' programme. In 2023, the concept was tested at Jazz Brugge, last year it coincided with the organisation of the European Jazz Conference in Ghent. This year, we are heading to BRAND! festival in Mechelen, which will take place from 26 to 29 November 2025.
For the event, professionals from the broad international jazz scene will be invited to explore our local scene, facilitating international networking. Four Belgian bands are given a spot at the festival and, together with the organisers, select a limited, carefully chosen group of international professionals to attend their performance and with whom they can network.
Discover the for bands of the Belgium Booms x JazzLab @ BRAND!-programme below:
Alex Koo Trio (26.11)
Pianist Alex Koo has become one of the leading figures of contemporary Belgian jazz. His album Appleblueseagreen with Mark Turner and Ralph Alessi was named one of the best albums of the year by leading US Downbeat Jazz Magazine, while his solo album Etudes for Piano garnered comparisons with grandmaster Keith Jarrett, among others. The long-awaited Blame It On My Chromosomes was released in early 2025. Expect a blistering melange of colourful compositions, picturesque combinations and compelling interplay.
Bodem (27.11)
Bodem is one of the notable newcomers to the Belgian jazz scene. Adia Vanheerentals recently made it to Klara's De Twintigers. With Bodem, she excels in lyrical melodies and fresh, collective interaction. For this, she surrounds herself with drummer Anke Verslype (aki) and guitarist Willem Malfliet (Woolvs). Debut Kleine mars (2023), immediately picked up with a charming combination of intimacy and energy. Successor Lush and Alive (2025) slaloms between intimacy and playfulness, with fresh melodies and spirited interaction full of surprises and poetry.
Joachim Badenhorst's Youran (27.11)
Together with an exciting group of musicians, Joachim Badenhorst (the first central guest of BRAND! in 2015) plays a unique concert with a crucial role for the concert space. The ensemble performs compositions and improvisations developed especially for the acoustics of extraordinary places. The musicians are arranged around the audience and sometimes move around the space, allowing the audience to fully immerse themselves in the sounds flowing in from all sides. Youran means ‘the beginning of things’ in Japanese and can be translated as ‘unhurried’ in Chinese. It refers to the novelty and unhurried nature of the performance.
Dishwasher_ (2811)
Disciples of a new generation of iconoclasts. Since 2019, Dishwasher_ has been experimenting with diverse genres and a sound that is instantly recognisable. With their debut album from 2023, they crowned themselves masters of groove and freedom. Bassist Louise van den Heuvel and saxophonist Werend Van Den Bossche passed in nona with the infectious Sonic Hug (JazzLab tour), but join drummer Arno Grootaers in presenting Dishwasher_'s second album (release 25.10). Expect a lush sound full of compelling rhythms and a thorough deconstruction of jazz anno 2025.