BRAND! 2025

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Pianist Alex Koo speelde eerder al een fantastisch concert in onze jazzclub Nova Express. Zijn album Appleblueseagreen met Mark Turner en Ralph Alessi werd uitgeroepen tot één van de beste albums van het jaar door het toonaangevende Amerikaanse Downbeat Jazz Magazine, terwijl zijn soloalbum Etudes for Piano vergelijkingen opleverde met o.a. grootmeester Keith Jarrett. In het begin van 2025 verscheen het langverwachte Blame It On My Chromosomes. Op BRAND! 2025 bracht het trio een zinderende melange van kleurrijke composities, schilderachtige combinaties en meeslepend samenspel.

A fusion of traditional Gnawa music and the sound world of Mattias De Craene. In Morocco, he became acquainted with cultural customs, musical traditions and local musicians. In the trio Black Koyo from the Brussels Gnawa community, he found the ideal partners to process his impressions and ideas. Expect a mix of tradition and innovation, of earthy ritualism and ethereal exploration, with the dark edge that characterises so much of De Craene's music. For this unique concert, De Craene also invited the influential Norwegian musician, producer and electronics guru Jan Bang (Arve Henriksen, Jon Hassell, Tigran Hamasyan) to join him on stage. 

Hanne De Backer is equally at home with intimate details and generous, expressive, fast-paced free music (see BRAND! 2024). With this new band, she showed a different side, a pulsating unity in which a crucial role is played by the unstoppable energy of drummer Raf Vertessen, the creative beats and samples of Damon Locks and the masterful bassist Silvia Bolognesi. With that foundation and a combination of rousing and comforting lines, this concert grew into a unique, compelling sound...

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Bodem is one of the striking newcomers on the Belgian jazz scene. Adia Vanheerentals recently made it into Klara's De Twintigers. With Bodem, she excels in lyrical melodies and fresh, collective interaction. To this end, she surrounds herself with drummer Anke Verslype (aki) and guitarist Willem Malfliet (Woolvs). Their debut Kleine mars (2023) immediately impressed with its charming combination of intimacy and energy. Its successor, Lush and Alive (2025), slaloms between intimacy and playfulness, with fresh melodies and lively interaction full of surprises and poetry.

Brussels guitarist Benjamin Sauzereau, one of the most respected musicians on our scene, is active across the entire spectrum, from elegant jazz to lively improvisation. He has written a large number of compositions, which he presents under the title “REMORQUE”. A bit like John Zorn with his Masada compositions, they are an ingenious exploration of composition, improvisation and arrangement. The short, lively pieces are sometimes lyrical and thoughtful, sometimes frivolous and playful. Strings take centre stage in this extraordinary sound, which leaves plenty of room for surprises and poetry. A familiar face is Vitja Pauwels, central guest during BRAND! 2022.

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Together with a fascinating group of musicians, Joachim Badenhorst (BRAND!'s first guest artist in 2015) performed a unique concert in which the location played a crucial role. The ensemble performed compositions and improvisations specially developed for the acoustics of extraordinary venues. The musicians were positioned around the audience and sometimes moved around the space, allowing the audience to become completely immersed in the sounds flowing in from all sides. Youran means “the beginning of things” in Japanese and can be translated into Chinese as “unhurried”. It refers to the novelty and unhurried nature of the performance.

g a b b r o is the collective through which Hanne De Backer explores the impact of improvised music on its surroundings and vice versa. She has organised concerts and recordings in sewer systems, laundromats, a prison and along the Belgian coastline (As We Walk, 2023). In October 2024, g a b b r o travelled from Brussels to the village of Gabbro in Italy. Together with drummer Casper Van De Velde, Hanne crossed five European countries. Along the way, they played music and met musician friends, such as Raphael Vanoli. The result of this journey is g a b b r o's GROUNDSPEED, a musical road trip along misty paths and busy motorways, a voyage of discovery of elusive sounds and recognisable melodies.

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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 through Nona with the infectious Sonic Hug (JazzLab tour), but are now joining forces with drummer Arno Grootaers to present their second album ANEMOIA (release 31.10). 

An intense concert that is both meditative and explosive at BRAND 2025. Nicolas Mortelmans is a sitar player who studied with Anoushka Shankar, among others, and released his debut album MĀYĀ in 2024. Just before BRAND!, he released his second album, SPACE. For this, he went into the studio with big names such as Roland van Campenhout, Stef Kamil Carlens, Tim Vanhamel and Simon Segers. The result of this musical encounter is a raw, spontaneous and honest record. With it, Mortelmans returns to his roots in the exciting zone between rock, ambient, funk and jazz.

Solidarity, grief, anger, regret, euphoria and compassion find their way into eclectic songs interwoven with mysterious instrumental side steps, choir passages and found footage. The Woolvs - Large Ensemble around guitarist-composer Willem Malfliet plays art pop with unusual textures and strong influences from (free) jazz and psychedelic music. The message of this group of musicians from the contemporary Brussels music scene – together they are active in the worlds of jazz, classical, pop, soul, rock, electronica, sound art and improvisation – is one of hope. They also presented their double LP!

With their shared love for the saxophone, Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain and mysterious soundscapes, this became a spellbinding performance by kindred spirits, musical adventurers without blinders. Just as Mattias De Craene moved from jazz to other equally exciting areas (dark film music, electronic ritualism, mysterious jazz rock), so too is Taiwanese-Canadian Alex Zhang Hungtai impossible to label. For years, he caused a sensation as Dirty Beaches, with whom he seemed to have escaped from a David Lynch production. Post-punk, jazzy ambient and noir in a unique combination.

STUFF. is nothing less than a cornerstone of Belgian music, a genuine band that emerged from close friendship and countless jams, but gradually grew into a unit that can compete with acclaimed names on the international stage. With J Dilla, Kraftwerk, Flying Lotus and Hudson Mohawke among their sources of inspiration, they have a sound that is as recognisable as it is eclectic, a combination of jazz, hip hop, funk, fusion and sizzling electronica. STUFF. is an assault on the head and the legs, with a formidable live reputation and an insatiable hunger for adventure.