BRAND! international guests

Does this man require an introduction? You could already hear him arriving on Solomon Burke's mass Soul Alive! in 1984, but it was mainly in the following years that guitar monster Ribot made himself heard. On Tom Waits' Rain Dogs he performed one of the greatest guitar solos of the decade ("Jockey Full Of Bourbon"), he was the perfect addition to The Lounge Lizards, an ideal sparring partner for Elvis Costello and soon also the favorite guitarist of New York guru John Zorn. Over the past thirty years, Ribot has grown into one of the most beloved and recognizable guitarists in the world, an artist who has made it clear once and for all that expressiveness and personality are the ultimate assets.

During BRAND! you can see Ribot solo and in Vitja Pauwels' Carte Blanche Project.

The future. That's what it's often mentioned when critics write about pianist Alexander Hawkins and cellist Tomeka Reid. The two are among the leading musicians and composers of their generation. Reid quickly grew into one of Chicago's most compelling figures and is an artist who took her place on the shoulders of predecessors like Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams, forging new bonds from there. She did so with Hawkins, a musical omnivore who could already be heard at the side of Evan Parker, Louis Moholo-Moholo and recently also with master Anthony Braxton.

Hawkins and Reid will show you every corner of the room, with a slightly wriggling, parallel swing contrasted with frivolous dances, brusque intervals, "prepared" instruments and vague shreds of blues, hymns and chamber music.

Drummer Gard Nilssen is the prototype of the versatile, virtuoso sponge: technically rock-solid, ultra versatile and so hungry for action that he can be active in several fields at the same time, from the sprawling jazz rock of Bushman's Revenge to international projects with Maciej Obara and Rodrigo Amado, among others, and his own trio that can be counted among the absolute top of the High North. His Acoustic Unity is small in size, but big in expressive power. Especially for BRAND!, he presents a quartet, with a few familiar faces: bassist Ole Morten Vågan was the leader of the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra during BRAND! Norway last year, while reedist André Roligheten performed in no less than three (!) concerts of that edition. They are now joined by another reed player, Kjetil Møster, who himself is at the helm of a couple of great bands. Expect potent freebop of the highest order: fiery, swinging, democratic, compelling and looking resolutely to the future.

Blind Io is yet another stunning international project by Belgian jazz engine Teun Verbruggen. Time and again he succeeds in bringing together musicians with diverse backgrounds to come up with something that, averse to rules and conventions, is aimed at pure exploration.

To achieve this, he once again calls upon a combination of musicians that appeals to the imagination. Pianist Bram De Looze has surpassed his status as a young talent and grown into one of the most gifted musicians of the Belgian jazz scene. Whether solo or with, for example. MixMONK: De Looze belongs to the absolute top. The same is true for the foreign guests: Ingrid Laubrock (Anthony Braxton, Mary Halvorson,...) is known as one of the most productive and impressive saxophonists of her generation, while the legendary Ikue Mori (John Zorn, Fred Frith,...) created a completely new universe with her instantly recognizable electronica. One for adventurers!

With her bands, bassist Lara Rosseel proved not only that she can compose, but also lead a band. She rarely plays solo, but when she does, it's a hit. Soulful, searching without a box of tricks and always close to intimacy and sensua­lity. This time she plays solo and in duo with American singer/​violinist Laura Cortese.