Some fine British jazz and many new discoveries fire up Brussels Jazz Festival in Flagey

Have you ever heard of Bram De Looze? Okay, one might already know the thirty-something (pictured below - photo © Patrick Van Vlerken) from the Belgian North Sea coast from one project or another in which he is involved, such as the LABtrio. But at this year's ten year anniversary edition of the Brussels Jazz Festival Flagey, the pianist is taking centre stage as ‘Artist in Residence’. Every year, festival director Maarten Van Rousselt selects a Belgian musician from Brussels or at least living in Brussels, who is then allowed to present him/herself on several evenings with different projects. Bram De Looze did just that on the first weekend of the festival with a dream quartet. Three Americans at the Belgian's side. And double bassist Thomas Morgan, drummer Joey Baron and the very present cellist Hank Roberts conjure up a subtle, mostly calmly flowing, contemporary chamber jazz together with De Looze in his strong compositions and also great pieces by Hank Roberts, in which delicate improvisational conversations with each other can unfold wonderfully within the framework of the composed material. Soulful, played with intimacy, even groovy at the end. Great aural cinema! And all this after just two days of rehearsing together. 

Does she love jazz or soul? Amy Gadiaga loves both and therefore combines swinging, cleverly arranged jazz standards with her own neo-soul pieces. The French bassist and singer, who lives in London, delivers a very entertaining set in the intimate Studio 1 of the Art Déco festival venue Flagey in a trio with pianist and bassist that is not yet perfectly together, revealing her roots in classic jazz and making it clear that she is a young artist in the here and now. Strong voice, beautiful programme. An artist whose further development is something to look forward to. 

This year in Brussels, there was an intensive collaboration with the London label Jazz re:freshed. Amy Gadiaga was one such collaboration, as were the two concerts with the UK bands Jake Long and Flock. The solo debut of drummer Jake Long with the classy album ‘City Swamp’ becomes a dazzling fusion journey through grooves and beats in Belgium's capital, with catchy rock guitar riffs and spacey organ sounds and haunting saxophone lines. Saxophonist Tamar Osborn and keyboardist Al MacSween are back on stage just a quarter of an hour later for Flock's performance in the large Studio 4, a band made up of five renowned musicians from the British jazz scene, but one that certainly divides the audience. Because some people will have asked themselves: What's the point of what's happening on stage? Because not that much happens. They improvise carefully as a collective and see where the journey takes them. And a lot of things develop in slow motion. You have to get involved with this concept of minimalist, enraptured soundscapes, which might eventually draw you into the spacey Flock cosmos. Or maybe not.   

Giving young artists a platform at his festival is important to Maarten van Rousselt. And so, on the first Friday of the ten days festival, Simon Comté, a young Belgian saxophonist, performed live in a quartet with the celebrated Tunisian pianist Wajdi Riahi at what is certainly an unusual lunchtime for jazz. What Comté still lacks in individuality, he makes up for with his impressive technique and diverse expressive possibilities on his saxophone.   

At Brussels Jazz, cool bands perform in the Flagey jam late into the night on several evenings. Music to chill out to, rock along to or chat to friends to. With bands such as the Y-Otis quartet (above - (c) Olivier Lestoquoit) led by Swedish saxophonist Otis Sandsjö or the Belgian-Dutch trio KVR, both of whom offer club-ready, electronically embellished, groovy and driving sounds that are simply fun.

And starting a festival Sunday at noon with a delicious buffet in the Flagey lobby and then lying comfortably on cushions in Studio 4 in the middle of the stage for an hour to listen to the spherical, minimalist, electronically processed soundscapes of the Belgian quartet The Rising Moon around guitarist Willem Heylen, who have positioned themselves in a square around the audience - the Brussels Jazz Festival also has something like this on offer. 

The festival still runs until 18 January - for more info visit www.flagey.be/brusselsjazzfestival