Lara Rosseel on BRAND!: from small to XXL
In the past, you could already see Lara Rosseel at work in various formations. With her octet and quintet, bassist Lara Rosseel proved not only that she can compose, but also lead a band.
During BRAND! you can see her at work as a solo artist, in duo with Laura Cortese and in XXL version with her own orchestra during ARK.
Lara Rosseel & Laura Cortese
And the bass wasn't even her first instrument! Lara Rosseel first threw herself into guitar and cello before making the switch to the bigger instrument. Then, when it did happen, it was instant big love. Despite an apparent simplicity, her playing is free of clichés or coquetry. Above all, it is the sound of an artist who freely searches for lyricism and purity. At times it sounds open and cinematic and at other times intimate or grooving. No box of tricks is needed. Music should above all be felt, according to Rosseel. If there is one thing she invariably succeeds in, it is bringing it about.
Soloing she rarely does, but when it happens, it's spot on. 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.
Naima Joris closes the first BRAND! festival evening at the Stadsschouwburg where she will perform her long-awaited first album. For this album, Naima was also able to call on a bunch of young kindred spirits, including our two central BRAND guests Lara Rosseel and Vitja Pauwels who both also play in her band.
Lara Rosseel Orchestra: ARK
Lara Rosseel's dream project is an enrichment of her octet and quintet with a string quartet and oboe. The compositions of De Grote Vrouw (2020) and Hert (2022) - which Lara Rosseel described as "ethnic acoustic jazz" - will be given a new, even more cinematic look for ARK. In this way, the grooving, warm music of this rising star is translated into a lush and grand Panavision format. Appropriate, since this bassist and composer absorbed influences from the most diverse corners of the world. North Africa, the Middle East and Mediterranean locales are hinted at. As a result, the music sounds like a trip that is as coherent as it is colorful, linking mystery to groove and vastness to intimacy.
She will rework the material she wrote for her previous albums to fit the XXL line-up. To this end, she is enlisting the support of Bert Joris, composer and arranger for the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. For Rosseel, this ambitious project is the culmination of an unusually fascinating chapter in her career and undoubtedly opens the doors to the future.
Vinyl Sunday in the Predikheren library
Jazz music and vinyl records have become a household word at Het Predikheren (Mechelen Library). 6,000 jazz records from the late 1950s to the early 1990s sit on the shelves. Some of these are unique collectors' items and are no longer on loan. Yet they also want to share these gems with the public. Therefore, they regularly invite well-known jazz fans and record freaks to get started with their collection. During BRAND! Lara Rosseel presents her favorite records.
