Bassist Anneleen Boehme was a founding member of LABtrio in 2007, one of the most highly celebrated Belgian jazz bands of the past decade. Like her comrades Lander Gyselinck and Bram De Looze, she didn’t stop there and went on to make her mark in a wide range of contexts. Now Boehme is revealing her dream project: the nine-strong Grand Picture Palace. It is a jazz quintet plus a string quartet, and it brings several of her passions together. Boehme leads and plays bass with verve. She has written compositions that break down genre boundaries with as much elegance as power.
double bass, compositions
Anneleen Boehme
bass clarinet
Rob Banken
trumpet
Cedric De Lat
tuba
Berlinde Deman
drums
Matthias De Waele
cello
Juno Kerstens
viola
Rhea Vanhellemont
violin
Linde Verjans, Laura Kennis
in partnership with
JazzLab en Mechelen Cultural Centre
drama and emotion, and above all highly promising. The audience reacted accordingly.”
– Enola Magazine on the debut concert at Jazz Middelheim
What made LABtrio exceptional was the early maturity of its three members. Boehme – still only in her early thirties – plays with the enthusiasm and ease of a veteran, without falling into a rut. She is still searching for new challenges, claiming her place in Belgian jazz with an impressive list of achievements. She presented four projects at Jazz Middelheim 2019; together, they offer a fine sample of what she stands for now. Grand Picture Palace made an immediate impression at the festival. After all, it takes courage to open your debut concert a capella and then demonstrate how jazz and classical music can be kept in balance without resorting to cliché. Boehme & co combined structure and improvisation with colour and energy. The powerful double bass claimed a central, commanding role.
If this nine-strong ensemble sounded so great in Den Brandt Park in Antwerp, what will it sound like in our old auditorium? Come and find out for yourself.
