Created in 2009, music:LX is a non-profit organization and network which aims to develop Luxembourgish music of all genres and export them around the world. Tonight starting at Walter, Brussels, for a night with three different bands exploring jazz en impro.
Michel Reis - piano, compositions
Sometimes music is abstract. Sometimes it is purely an invitation to dance. Sometimes it exists to protest against a wrong. And sometimes it exists simply to tell us a story.
Short Stories is the magnificent new solo album from Luxembourg-born pianist Michel Reis, a set of fourteen delicately spun narratives, each with its own colour, setting and direction, each as compelling as the last. Adjectives like “cinematic” routinely attach themselves to jazz impressionism. Reis, though, takes a subtler and more nuanced approach, creating works that combine simplicity with an air of mystery and suspense. Settle down and let him tell you a story...
Jean-Philippe Koch - piano
David Kintziger - electric bass
Michel Mootz - drums
The second album by Luxembourg trio Dock In Absolute offers further confirmation of their genre-shifting approach to trio jazz, with familiar bop elements intermingled with classical, pop and post-rock elements. Pianist Jean-Philippe Koch’s romantic melodism, electric bassist David Kintziger’s flowing lyricism (which is reminiscent of Steve Swallow) and percussionist Michel Mootz’s approach to the whole kit as an integrated musical instrument yields up an album of sustained and often surprising beauty.
Now regulars in the CAM JAZZ catalogue as well as on the European festival circuit, Dock In Absolute bring an immediately recognisable spin to an otherwise well-worn instrumental combination. This is a group, rather than a collection of individuals, and Unlikely is an album rather than a mere collection of themes. From the heart of Western Europe, a record that gets to the heart of modern music.
David Fettmann – alto saxophone
Jérôme Klein – piano
Niels Engel – drums
Pol Belardi – bass, compositions
How can a modern jazz quartet still conquer the listeners’ ear in 2019? The musicians from Pol Belardi’s Force have their very own distinct approach. The four young up-and-coming performers are not afraid of taking advantage of their large musical background, drawing as much from Classical and Jazz education as from their distinctly open minds towards Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop and Electronic music. The result is a fresh blend of modern improvised music, subtly expressed through Pol Belardi’s original compositions, driven by strong grooves, exquisite harmonies, lyrical melodies, clever use of space, tension and release, diverse moods and a big amount of interaction and fun.
