Brussels Jazz Orchestra (BJO) was founded in 1993 by Frank Vaganée, Serge Plume, Marc Godfroid and Bo van der Werf. In the early years the BJO resides in jazz club The Sounds in Brussels, organizing sessions on a two-weekly basis. Jazz Middelheim 1993 marks the first festival where the BJO appears beyond the boundaries of the Belgian capital.
After several years of performing across the Belgium, the BJO plays abroad for the first time in autumn 1996, in Laren (the Netherlands). In that same year the BJO receives its first award, winning the Prix Nicolas d’Or. From 1997 the BJO starts to perform in local concert halls and in May BJO live is recorded for Coda at De Spil, in Roeselare. This first CD includes compositions by Bert Joris and Frank Vaganée amongst others. In July came the first collaboration with Toots Thielemans.
Collaborations with guitarist Philip Catherine and American composer and arranger Bill Holman begin in 1999, while the BJO records its second CD that autumn, The September Sessions (De Werf) with compositions by Bert Joris and Frank Vaganée alongside others such as Michel Herr. In 2000 the BJO collaborates with American conductor Maria Schneider and singer Jeanne Lee.
In 2000 the BJO collaborates with American conductor Maria Schneider and singer Jeanne Lee. In 2001 the 16-piece jazz orchestra ventures beyond Europe, performing with American pianist Kenny Werner in New York, at the International Association for Jazz Education conference. This tour marks the beginning of the band’s international carreer. A concert tour with Paul Michiels follows in Belgium and the year witnesses all sorts of projects with guests such as Toots Thielemans, Theo Mertens, Dave Liebman, Bob Mintzer and Philip Catherine. The double CD The Music of Bert Joris (De Werf) is recorded in Bruges. The press is very enthusiastic and the album sells more than 6000 copies! Jack Bowers writes in All About Jazz: “We’ve sung the praises of the Brussels Jazz Orchestra before (‘The September Sessions’) but never so loudly as for this new two-disc set on which the music of the marvelous Belgian composer/arranger/trumpeter Bert Joris. And what music it is!”
Besides concerts in the Benelux following the release of the cd, the BJO once again travels to the USA for a week-long tour with Kenny Werner in 2002, playing New York (Yonker’s Pier), Boston (Sculler’s) and at the Litchfield Jazz Festival. Later that year BJO works with the Argentine composer Carlos Franzetti and trumpeter Gustavo Bergalli centred around the project Tango!. The first edition of the BJO International Composition Contest is won by David Renter (USA).
In 2003 the Brussels Jazz Orchestra celebrates its 10th anniversary with a concert in Brussels, featuring American trumpeter Tom Harrell as a guest. Later that year there the BJO tours with Paul Michiels, and plays special concerts with Toots Thielemans, Bert Joris & Philip Catherine, Maria Schneider, Kenny Werner, de Filharmonie, Dave Liebman, Phil Woods and Erwin Vann. After many concerts with Kenny Werner, the end of February saw the recording of Naked in the Cosmos (Jazz ‘n Pulz) in Studio Toots. De Standaard’s comment was short but powerful: “The BJO plays with skill. The band impresses.” On 13th December 2003 the BJO presents a new project for a large audience in Flagey: BJO vs the Big White Screen: Big Cities in the Twenties. This project consists of five silent short films, with music composed by Frank Vaganée, Bert Joris & Gyuri Spies, performed live by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra during the projection.
Following the successful IAJE meeting in 2001, in January 2004 the BJO is back in New York with Bert Joris as guest soloist. The year also features concerts with Toots Thielemans, Bert Joris & Philip Catherine as part of the project Big Cities in the Twenties. Also in 2004 there is the Radio 1 project, Big Bang, with Joost Zweegers and Piet Goddaer. During this year the BJO was voted best European orchestra and took eighth place in the Big Band category in the 52nd Downbeat Annual Critics Poll.
In 2005 the collaboration between the BJO, Bert Joris and Philip Catherine leads to the CD Meeting Colours (Dreyfus) with compositions by Philip Catherine and arrangements by Bert. Pierre Bertrand writes in Jazz Man: “A magnificent Philip Catherine and an impeccable BJO. Obviously, the basis of such an ambitious project is the sheer pleasure of playing together.” In the summer the orchestra plays at Jazz Middelheim with Norma Winstone and Kenny Wheeler. Also in 2005 the BJO goes on tour with Maria Schneider to Vienna, Zagreb and a number of larger cities in Belgium. Furthermore, the project A Percussive Portrait is developed with Belgian percussionist Chris Joris, with whom the BJO performs in Belgium and the Netherlands. In the autumn, at the Hogent Studio in Ghent, the band records compositions by Frank Vaganée: Countermove (De Werf). This album is received warmly by the press. Bart Cornand writes in Knack: “The BJO - new style - stands for fine swing with a bold taste of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis. Gone is the European fragrance, this is pure blood black americana. This cd is an infectious celebration.”
2006 is The Year of The Nominations, with nominations for the ZAMU awards, the Cultuurprijs Vlaanderen and The Power of Print for the best cultural poster (Countermove). The BJO wins the Cultuurprijs Vlaanderen prize. 2006 also sees artistic collaborations with the Limburgs Symfonisch Orkest (NL), Dave Liebman, Gianluigi Trovesi, Philip Catherine & Bert Joris, de Filharmonie, Toots Thielemans and Chris Joris, while later in the year follows a sequel to BJO Vs the Big White Screen — this time entitled: Piccadilly, with a score by Frank Vaganée. The 2006 CD release Dangerous Liaison is recorded live in at de Singel, bringing together the BJO, de Vlaamse Filharmonie and Bert Joris. According to De Standaard this makes for “a successful encounter between classical and jazz...” and the album is voted best big band album of 2006 by the American jazz website All About Jazz.
In February 2007 a successful collaboration takes place with singer David Linx, recording the album Changing Faces (O+). De Standaard again: “A dazzling result, with a swirling big band and Linx who scats soul from the depths of his being.” In May comes a second CD recording: after years of collaboration, the BJO and Michel Herr at last enter the studio, resulting in The Music of Michel Herr (De Werf). In the words of André Joassin in Le Soir: “It swings, the horn sound bursts vividly upon the ears and the well thought-out dynamics create a sense of modernity in the orchestral palette. This is also apparent in the punctilious playing of the Brussels Jazz Orchestra and the masterful musicianship of the soloists.” Furthermore this is the year of the collaboration Writing Billie with South African singer Tutu Puoane and Flemish actress Veerle Dobbelaere: different authors give their interpretation of Billie Holiday set against specially written new compositions and arrangements by Bert Joris. Also in 2007 come the first of BJO’s Finest concerts, consisting exclusively of compositions by BJO musicians, arranged by other BJO musicians.
The projects Changing Faces, Writing Billie, BJO’s finest, The Music of Michel Herr and Meeting Colours all continue to run in 2008, providing a variety of events in venues and festivals at home and abroad, including the Netherlands, France and Italy. In the autumn the Brussels Jazz Orchestra performs with Richard Galliano, and starts to think in terms of a cd: Ten Years Ago (Milan), is recorded in April 2008 and praised by the international press: Georges Tonla Briquet for instance writes “This is not a band with an accordionist as an extra guest, but a seamless blending of two entities.”
In 2009 the BJO works with the Brussels Philharmonic (Vlaams Radio Orkest) on a project for the 75th anniversary of the National Lottery: Creating Chances, led by Bert Joris. Creating Chances brings the BJO and the BP together, with soloists soprano Iris Luypaers and jazz singer Tutu Puoane and marks the composition debut of Frank Vaganée on this scale. Collaboration between jazz and classical also appears in the subsequent project Requiem Lindgren, performed by the BJO, the Vlaams Radio Koor, Camerata Aetas Nova and Capella di Voce, all under the direction of Kurt Bikkembergs. In September 2009 we also find a unique collaboration between the BJO as jazz orchestra and one of the top Belgian brass bands, Brass Band Willebroek. Concert activity increases from approximately 30 concerts a year in the years 2002–2008, to 40 concerts in 2009.
2010 is the most intense working year in the history of the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. Spring kicks off in Flagey with live recordings of the album "Signs and Signatures" for W.E.R.F. , followed by a 10-part concert series of the new project "Mama Africa" with singer Tutu Puoane. The eponymous CD of this project is released in February 2010 on the UK label Saphrane. De Telegraaf writes: "The Brussels Jazz Orchestra accompanies Tutu Puoane to perfection in a selection of beautifully arranged South African songs.” There are concerts with Richard Galliano in the Muziekgebouw in 't IJ, the Cultural Centre of Dudelange (Lux) and Musikfest Bremen. In June the Orchestra makes its debut in Lithuania with concerts in Vilnius and Klaipeda. The climax of the summer is Theater aan Zee in Ostend, with Frank Vaganée as curator of music and Michaël De Cock for the theatre section, with a total of eight concerts performed. In the autumn, "Signs and Signatures", by and with trumpeter/composer Bert Joris sees the light with premiere concerts in Ramatuelle (FR), Bruges, Rotterdam (NL), Ghent, Borgerhout and Middelburg (NL). De Standaard: "Joris proves with this CD that he is a masterful composer and has improved with age as a trumpeter. The Brussels Jazz Orchestra is an excellent interpreter of his music." And then, the cherry on the cake of 2010, the residency of the Brussels Jazz Orchestra and US pianist Kenny Werner at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC: fourteen concerts received with much enthusiasm. No less than 59 concerts are performed in 2010.
In the spring of 2011 the album 'Guided Dream' comes out. This collaboration with Dave Liebman (US) features live recordings of two concerts, with Liebman's compositions arranged for big band and some remarkable adaptations of jazz standards. A series of concerts with Liebman is programmed for early 2012.The BJO and Bart Joris play on the opening night of Jazz Middelheim festival. Press and public are exalted. According to festival director Bertrand Flamang this is ‘their best concert ever’. The summer of 2011 witnesses the birth of another album with a jazz composer of international fame, pianist Kenny Werner (US). The record is presented at the Dinant Jazz festival in July. Mezzo TV records this conert.
In the summer the BJO is welcomed in Johannesburg where it performs on two consecutive nights at Sound of Jazz, the biggest jazz festival in South Africa. Obviously, Tutu Puoane being the leading lady, the audience got caught up in the atmosphere of Mama Africa.
In the autumn of 2011 concerts with Bert Joris are scheduled. Signs and Signatures remains the favourite with the public! In December the ambitious Agatha project is launched, i.e. a contemporary jazz composition by Kerkko Koskinen from Finland. For the occasion, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra will be joined by I Solisti del Vento and Russian trumpeter Alex Sipiagin: 9 additional wind instruments to interpret the ambitious sound universe of Agatha.
2012 kicks off with a concert at the Tournai Jazz Festival, with vocalists David Linx and Maria João. The project A Different Porgy & Another Bess is a personal and contemporary interpretation of George Gershwin's successful opera classic. In March the CD is released on Naïve and in the summer the BJO presents this same production with Linx and João at jazz festivals in Brussels (B), Nisville (Serbia) and Bremen (D).
BJO had a huge amouont of media attention in February, at the Academy awards in Los Angeles when The Artist won the Oscar for Best Original Film Score. As one of the performers on the soundtrack, BJO had a share in the Oscar glory. This music had also already won a Golden Globe, a César and a BAFTA Award.
The new production of Graphicology is premiered in Amsterdam in February, a surprising combination of graphic novels by Philip Paquet and live jazz. Nils Lindberg's Requiem is on the programme for March and May, a collaboration with the Flemish Radio Choir and Capella di Voce. In February, Kenny Werner (U.S.) stops off in Belgium for two concerts. However, the highlight of the year comes at the end of March, when the BJO perform six sell-out nights in a row at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York. They perform the repertoire of Institute of Higher Learning, with Werner and guest soloist Chris Potter.
Mama Africa is on the agenda twice in spring, with concerts in Geraardsbergen and Heist-op-den-Berg. The BJO presents a special production for the Red Star Line Festival in Antwerp: New York. City of Jazz: some extracts of Graphicology and an original soundtrack to a Laurel & Hardy film, written by Bert Joris. Shortly after, the BJO appears on stage at the young New Port Jazz festival in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, again with Bert Joris. In September, A Different Porgy & Another Bess is on the bill at the New Morning, the most prestigious Paris (FR) jazz club. In October and November the Graphicology project resumes with concerts at Flagey (Brussels) and Antwerp (Bookfair and CC Luchtbal). The BJO rounds off 2012 with BJO's Finest, a CD recording and concert in Flagey's Studio 1, which simultaneously represents the kick-off of the festive year 2013 when the BJO celebrates its twentieth anniversary.
In January, Graphicology starts things off with three concerts at home in Belgium. Later in the year, they follow these with six more at home and abroad, including France and Lithuania. In February, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra (BJO) performs Branford Marsalis’ Swing Symphony with the Brussels Philharmonic in the Bozar in Brussels and the Bijloke in Ghent. The month of March is dedicated entirely to the orchestra’s twentieth anniversary. Since the release of BJO’s Finest – Live! and four anniversary concerts, the BJO has been all over the media. The press applauds the CD, and the concerts – in Flagey, deSingel, CC (Cultural Centre) Kortrijk and CC Hasselt – are a resounding success among the public. Together with guest soloists David Linx, Bert Joris, Philip Catherine, Tutu Puoane and Michel Herr, the concerts area veritable “best-of” reflecting the past two decades. In July, Belgian television network VRT records and broadcasts the concert in Hasselt in two parts.
This summer, BJO’s Finest – Live! wins the hearts of visitors to the Brussels Summer Festival and Jazz in the Park in Ghent. And Mama Africa ads extra spice to the summer festivals. This time, the Gaume Jazz Festival is captivated by the charms of Tutu Puoane and Miriam Makeba in August.
In 2013, A Different Porgy & Another Bess continues to build its international success, performing the concert twice in April, in Belfort and Valenciennes, France. In September, the company travels to Asia with David Linx and Maria João to perform the successful remake of Porgy and Bess in Singapore’s prestigious Esplanade in front of more than seven hundred enthusiastic listeners. In November, A Different Porgy & Another Bess returns to the French stage, this time in Angoulême and Limoges.
Another feature, including the second CD release of 2013, is Wild Beauty – a collaborative project with Joe Lovano and Gil Goldstein – served to highlight the anniversary year. American saxophonist Joe Lovano selected eight compositions from his broad repertoire and asked Goldstein to arrange them for big band. The result is Wild Beauty, an homage to Lovano’s Sicilian roots. The international premiere takes place at Ghent Jazz in July.
Three years after its release, Signs and Signatures, the critically acclaimed album of Bert Joris playing with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, continues to be a crowd pleaser. Parts of it are performed at Jazz Vrijbroek in Mechelen and at two concerts in Latvia in October.
The BJO comes out with yet another project in October: Luz del Sur, Jazz Inspired by Flamenco. The project, including compositions by Spanish saxophonist Perico Sambeat, appears in Flagey for the first time and is performed twice at CC Het Bolwerk in Vilvoorde. With Sambeat as the soloist – and joined by a singer, a dancer, a guitarist, and cajón player – the duende (the Spanish soul) was palpable on the stage. October also sees the final round of the BJO’s International Composition Contest, with four finalists on stage in Studio 4 of Flagey.
In November follows a retake of BJO vs. The Big White Screen: Big cities in the twenties to celebrate the CINEMATEK’s seventy-fifth anniversary. The BJO supports the victims of hurricane Haiyan in the Philippines with a benefit concert in December.
Brussels Jazz Orchestra tops off its anniversary year with two Grammy Award nominations for its album Wild Beauty with Joe Lovano.
2014 started off with three performances of Close Encounters, another successful collaboration with I Solisti del Vento, in Antwerp, Brussels and Bornem. Before the concerts we held several days of open rehearsals that were attended by students from the Kunsthumaniora in Hasselt. In March, our brand-new production New York, City of Jazz had its premiere: a tribute to the city of New York, in song (by Tutu Puoane), text and images. It was a hit with audiences, and 5 concerts followed later that year.
Another event in March was introducing 1200 first-year elementary-school students in Bruges to jazz, through our ‘Eersteklasconcerten’, a project with the non-profit foundation Musica. Graphicology continued its victory tour, playing two stages in Belgium (Bruges and Moeskroen) and in the summer we crossed the border for two concerts in Serbia. Another of our favourite productions, BJO’s Finest, had an audience in Sint-Truiden (March) and at the open-air jazz festival in Lisbon (September).
In May, tryouts started in Mechelen of Maestro, an unusual new project in collaboration with t’arsenaal Mechelen. Actor Warre Borgmans, scriptwriter Hugo Matthysen, director Michael De Cock and composer Frank Vaganée joined forces to create this premiere. The second formation of the Brussels Youth Jazz Orchestra rounded off their 3-year term in July with several Best Of concerts in Eupen and Brussels, led by Frank Vaganée.
The summer turned out to be the ideal time to record a new CD: The Music of Enrico Pieranunzi. Pieranunzi was at the piano, Bert Joris made arrangements, played solos and conducted, and Brussels Jazz Orchestra played its best, as was clear from the audiences’ enthusiastic response. The live recordings were released in January 2015. In early September, BJO were guests on the Sint-Jansplein square in Antwerp, playing an open-air concert with the orchestra deFilharmonie. All good songs come to an end, and in October, BJO performed A Different Porgy & Another Bess for the last time, in Compiègne (F). After a CD recording and 16 concerts in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Singapore, we brought this wonderful project to a close.
The Sweetheart and The Daredevil (with sweetheart Mary Pickford and daredevil Harold Lloyd) is the third project in the series BJO vs The Big White Screen. This co-production with CINEMATEK had its international premiere in Budapest (H) in November. A few days after the concert, BJO gave a well-received master class in the Budapest Conservatory. Starting in December the rollercoaster called Maestro of De Man Zonder Tanden (Maestro or The Man With No Teeth) was set in motion with no fewer than 7 concerts (and 9 more in 2015), to sold-out halls and an enthusiastic press. Warre Borgmans outdoes himself as De Man Zonder Tanden. For Brussels Jazz Orchestra, the year 2014 ended with a big bang.
The year began on an educational note with one of our ‘First Class Concerts’ (for schoolchildren) in Ypres, followed by a performance of The Sweetheart and the Daredevil the same evening. Our Maestro tour continued on its victorious way with no less than eight concerts in January, and one in February to round off the tour. The premiere of our new production, The Music of Enrico Pieranunzi, was given extra brilliance with a master class and an open rehearsal in the Brussels conservatory. At the premiere itself, Enrico and Bert Joris practically set Flagey on fire. This was the start of an acclaimed concert series in the spring, playing European jazz of the highest order, with performances in Ghent, Leuven and Antwerp. In February the orchestra went to Sweden and Denmark with Graphicology, a quintessentially BJO production that had already captivated audiences at many international stages, with compositions by band members and a crossover collaboration with a Belgian visual artist. The success of this production culminated in a concert in Pennsylvania and a residence in Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York) in late March – a milestone for the orchestra, which had played on American soil but never before without an American soloist! BJO also packed houses with New York City of Jazz: this ode to the Mecca of jazz by Tutu Puoane went down extremely well in Lokeren, Dendermonde, Antwerp, Spa, Merksem and at the Netherlands’ Meer Jazz festival.
The new BREL project, with jazz arrangements of chansons by ‘Le Grand Jacques’, had its baptism by fire during a try-out in Strasbourg. This seems to have been the perfect preparation for the CD recordings in June. The arrangers for this production created some absolute gems for David Linx and the orchestra. The release followed in January of 2016.
The summer featured performances with the Gil Evans Project conducted by Ryan Truesdell, at Jazz à Liège (Signs and Signatures), Meer Jazz (NL) and North Sea Jazz (NL). In August we were at Jazz Middelheim along with the Canadian jazz genius Darcy James Argue. Both Truesdell and Argue belong to the younger jazz generation from North America, and are artists we’d like to give more opportunities to play in Europe. We closed the festival summer with Bert Joris at Jazz Geraardsbergen.
November saw yet another premiere in the Bruges Concertgebouw: Ravel 2.0 with deFilharmonie, with a performance in deSingel the next day. 2015 ended in beauty with a private concert of BREL, as a harbinger for a successful launch of BREL in the new year.
2016 was without a doubt the BJO’s BREL year. Audiences at the 14 concerts in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Poland completely fell for David Linx and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra’s fresh approach to Le Grand Jacques’ immortal oeuvre. The eponymous CD also received enthusiastic reviews in the leading jazz media.
Along with the other great vocalist, Tutu Puoane, in 2016 we rounded off the acclaimed New York, City of Jazz production with a tour that took in Bruges, Ghent, Geel, Louvain-La-Neuve and Alsemberg. We also rounded off our Graphicology tour with a concert at the jazz festival in Katowice, Poland.
In 2016 we premiered The Future is Now, BJO’s ‘stepping stone’ showcasing young jazz talent. Matthias Van den Brande, Hendrik Lasure, Roeland Celis and Quinten De Craecker showed their best stuff in this first season, with concerts in Ronse, Rijkevorsel and Leuven. A new cast of performers will join the project in 2017.
On World Refugee Day, 20 June, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra spoke from its heart with a one-of-a-kind concert in the Ancienne Belgique venue: Artists #WithRefugees, the results of months of preparation between partners from the culture sector and the sector dealing with refugee issues (coordinated by UNHCR Belgium). As a part of this effort, Frank Vaganée presented the benefit CD ‘Two Small Bags, Ten Million Dreams’, a studio recording of the piece performed with many other musicians that evening. The high point was the performance by BJO and 5 musicians originally from Syria, who had the audience wildly clapping and cheering.
In early July, we recorded a new CD with Bert Joris, which was released in December. The disc is entitled Smooth Shake and even the avant-première of the concert at Brosella was a huge success. BJO also played its Finest programme during the summer at the MA Festival in Bruges and released the very first jazz disc in Auro 3D technology: a reissue of BJO’s Finest.
Listeners over our borders have really taken to the Music of Enrico Pieranunzi. We gave concerts at the Piacenza Jazz Festival (Italy) and in Germany (Saarbrücker Jazz and Ingolstadt). The Sweetheart and The Daredevil, the third production under the label BJO vs The Big White Screen, was performed in Vilvoorde and Sint-Niklaas. In the autumn we gave an extra performance of MONK’estra at Parkjazz in Kortrijk. This production, by and with John Beasley, breathes new life into the music of Thelonious Monk, in the run-up to 2017, the year in which Monk would have turned 100.
The year 2017 was one of abundance, with 40 concerts, of which 7 were abroad. Within Belgium, we somewhat blurred the boundaries between the French- and Flemish-speaking language areas with our BREL production, which laid a firm foundation for more ‘cross-border’ efforts in the future. The BJO project portfolio exudes diversity.
The year began with the New Year’s Refugee Concert. Five of Syria’s best-known musicians and the entire Brussels Jazz Orchestra turned this unique concert into a statement: collaborations that reach across cultural borders produce fruitful cross-fertilisations and wonderful creations. In February, BJO presented a one-off programme for the Festival Jazz en Nord (FR), in which Big Valses by trumpeter Pierre Drevet was combined with material from our latest CD Smooth Shake, with Bert Joris. Smooth Shake itself toured to several major venues in Belgium. The CD released in December 2016 was highly acclaimed by the international press, getting a glowing 4½**** review in DownBeat Magazine (US). The disc was also on DownBeat’s list published in late 2017 of the best new jazz albums of the years. February also saw The Music Of Gil Evans, a co-production with American composer, arranger and big-band leader Ryan Truesdell in Utrecht, Brussels, and Antwerp, with a selection from the great master Evans’s repertoire. Another production with a master musician was the reprise of The Music Of Enrico Pieranunzi. BJO, arranger Bert Joris, and Pieranunzi himself played concerts in the pianist and composer ‘s native Italy, at the Bergamo Jazz Festival and Stresa Festival.
Two new productions had their premieres in April. Kaneelvingers (literally ‘cinnamon fingers’) linked poetry by Stefan Hertmans to music by his brother, guitarist Peter Hertmans in arrangements by Bert Joris, with vocals by Fay Claassen. The project had its baptism in the cultural centre of Wilrijk. The emotional family production Boom-Boom, narrated by master storyteller Dimitri Leue, presented young audiences with an inspiring story about an encounter between two groups of squirrels as a metaphor for the refugee issue. The story was given musical support by BJO and a quintet of string players from the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. The premiere in the afternoon in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Antwerp was followed the same evening opening with the second performance in De Bijloke in Ghent, after which it toured throughout Flanders.
In June the CD BREL received several awards, with singer David Linx receiving the Netherlands’ Edison Jazz/World Award for best album in the Vocal Jazz category. The BREL production continued to tour within and outside Belgium. During the same period, the recordings for a new CD with singer Tutu Puoane were planned. We Have A Dream is an album of protest song arrangements as a tribute to human rights, which in 2018 took its place as the 22nd recording on the BJO shelf.
Autumn 2017. In October BJO and conductor-arranger John Beasley (US) celebrated 100 years of Thelonius Monk with the reprise of MONK’estra in Antwerp and Brussels. Under the title ‘BJO vs. The Big White Screen in collaboration with CINEMATEK’, the BJO presented The Sweetheart and The Daredevil during the ‘Uur Kultuur’ concert series in Leuven, with original music for the silent films ‘Pollyanna’ and ‘An Eastern Westerner’. The Future Is Now, the Club tour featuring young talent from Belgium, was continued. The orchestra played a concert in ‘De Werf’ in Bruges with soloists Quinten De Craecker and Hendrik Lasure. We Orchestrate Words (WOW) had 2 concerts in KVS Brussels. In WOW young artists from the urban scene work with Brussels Jazz Orchestra. Rap, soul, and grooves come together, with the jazz orchestra playing on top of this layer and adding compositions. Worlds meet and intertwine, making a contemporary big-city soundtrack. In late October, as part of the Film Fest in Ghent, Brussels Philharmonic & Brussels Jazz Orchestra together played Symphonic Jazz Concert, an ode to the classics of jazz soundtracks, conducted by maestro Dirk Brossé. The year ended in November with the premiere of Dubbel Geboekt, an explosive collaboration with musical-comedy duo Frivole Framboos. The collision of the BJO’s universe with that of the Frivole Framboos ensured a first-class evening of musical humour. Before the year ended the gentlemen had done a tour of 10 performances in Flanders.
In addition to all the on-stage action, BJO also found time for educational projects, organising 2 open rehearsals, 1 master-class arrangement with Bert Joris, and a workshop in the music academy of Deurne.
In 2018, Brussels Jazz Orchestra turned 25, and since you don’t have a birthday like that every year, there were a few high points and a lot of celebration.
The year began with the second round of the Dubbel Geboekt tour with the duo Frivole Framboos. In Dubbel Geboekt, Belgium’s masters of musical mixing meet a meticulously managed musical formation with merciless timing, or was it the other way round? The gentlemen gave no less than seven performances on Flemish stages in January.
It was still January when thoroughbred narrator Dimitri Leue brought the production Boom-Boom to stages in Heist-op-den-Berg, Zaventem, Antwerp, Houthalen-Helchteren and Leuven, with live accompaniment by the complete BJO and a string quintet from the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. It was jazz for the whole family, including the very youngest. Our BREL with David Linx was also put on in Arlon, and then it was time for the year’s main event.
That event is the new album that BJO released in February, We Have a Dream, a collaboration with singer Tutu Puoane, which became the 22nd addition to the BJO recording shelf. Released in early February by SoulFactory Records, We Have a Dream is a musical project about human rights, among other things inspired by the commemoration of the assassination of Martin Luther King, which in 2018 was fifty years ago. It features protest songs from the pop, rock soul and jazz worlds in new arrangements for jazz orchestra. Antwerp-based Tutu Puoane is originally from south Africa, and sings with a figurative fist raised in indictment, as a call for justice. We Have a Dream is a project with a universal message, one which is more relevant than ever today. It is a tribute to human rights and to their defenders. This is why we entered into a partnership with Amnesty International Belgium. The first series of concerts was kicked off on 23 February, with the premier in deSingel Antwerp, followed by concerts in Brussels, Ghent, Mechelen, Strombeek, Bruges and Leuven.
In April the orchestra and David Linx took BREL to Luxembourg. Tutu Puoane and several BJO musicians also appeared on the TV programme De Zevende Dag on Eén (VRT) with the We Have a Dream album, with an interview and concert with a mini-BJO.
In early July, the BJO played its Czech premiere, presenting Smooth Shake with Bert Joris at the Prague Proms. A few days later the orchestra played with international guest soloists Paquito D'Rivera, Stephane Chausse, Eddie Daniels, Felix Peikli and Joris Roelofs at ClarinetFest 2018 in Ostend.
Then, in August, it was time for the first of the birthday parties, at Jazz Middelheim in Antwerp, the festival BJO likes to call a second home. On 10 August, the orchestra occupied the festival’s Club Stage for a full day, with no less than four very different productions: We Orchestrate Words with urban artists Zed, Junior Akwety and DJ Grazzhoppa; We Have A Dream with Tutu Puoane; Kaneelvingers with the poetry of Stefan Hertmans, compositions by his brother, guitarist Peter Hertmans, and the voice of Fay Claassen; and Footprint, a selection of BJO repertoire from recent years. It was an unforgettable 25th birthday party!
September took BJO to the Toots Jazz Festival in La Hulpe with BREL, the Alter Schlachthof in Eupen with We Have a Dream, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi with Smooth Shake.
In October it was already time for part two of the birthday festivities. Between 10 and 15 October the orchestra played a series of concerts in Belgium and outside, with the American conductor/composer Maria Schneider, entitled BJO25. In July 2018 Schneider had received the NEA Jazz Masters Award, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the US for jazz musicians. The award only confirmed what Brussels Jazz Orchestra has already known for years: Schneider brings magic to the stage. So it was an honour for us to be able to celebrate our 25th with Maria, 10 years after the last time we worked with her. Flagey Brussels, deSingel in Antwerp, De Doelen in Rotterdam, Tivoli Vredenburg (Utrecht, NL) and last but not least: the iconic Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna were the backdrop for this glorious birthday tour.
Immediately after the BJO25 tour, we left for Hungary to perform We Have A Dream in Budapest (for the first time since the album’s release).
In November the focus shifted to education. Following the success of the Ghent Youth Jazz Orchestra and Brussels Youth Jazz Orchestra, Brussels Jazz Orchestra launched another youth big-band project, working with Muziekmozaïek Folk & Jazz and Vuurvogels: the Youth Jazz Collective. It offers talented young musicians up to age 18 three years to grow, play together and work with internationally renowned conductors. Many enthusiastic young musicians signed up for the auditions on 2 November, and at the end of the month a brand-new big band started up.
2018 began as the We Have A Dream year, and ended the same way, since after one performance of Kaneelvingers in Alsemberg, we still had three We Have a Dream concerts planned for December. On 7 December the orchestra and Tutu Puoane played in Moeskroen, closing 2018 with a worthy highlight on 14 and 15 December: two performances of We Have a Dream Symphonic, in collaboration with OPRL Luik. Tutu Puoane, Brussels Jazz Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (OPRL) performed a symphonic version of We Have a Dream, with new arrangements of the songs from the original project for double orchestra. These unique concerts were conducted by Charles Hazlewood and performed in the Salle Philharmonique de Liège. They were the icing on the cake of an unforgettable silver jubilee.
In addition to all the on-stage action, BJO also found time for 2 open rehearsals. In February the “Kunsthumaniora” from Hasselt attends a rehearsal for We Have a Dream with Tutu Puoane at deSingel in Antwerp, in October the BJO welcomes the “Kunsthumaniora” from Turnhout during the preparations for the BJO25 tour with Maria Schneider.
Brussels Jazz Orchestra kicked off the new year with performances of two of its acclaimed productions: BREL in the Centre Culturel of Spa (BE) and We Have A Dream in Cultuurcentrum Casino of Houthalen-Helchteren, GC ’t Blikveld in Bonheiden and the Théatre de Namur.
In February the musicians crossed the wide ocean for Canada. The BJO and David Linx, and the performance of BREL, were enthusiastically received in the Palais Montcalm in Quebec and Diffusion Momentum in Victoriaville. Soon after, Tutu Puoane joined the band in ‘the city that never sleeps’ (New York), where they performed on two evenings in the legendary Dizzy’s Club in Jazz at Lincoln Center. With We Have A Dream on the bill, it wasn’t very hard to fill the hall.
After an intensive day of rehearsal and under the watchful eye of BJO musicians, three big bands gave their best in early March during Fire Up That Big Band in De Kampanje in Steenhuffel. A few weeks later, In The Pines had its premiere in Brussels’ Flagey. This was another Brussels Jazz Orchestra project involving dialogue with a graphic novel, following the success of Graphicology in 2012. This time, a book by illustrator Erik Kriek was the basis for a new and ‘off-beat’ production interweaving haunting illustrations, grim stories, music, singing and special effects (by Lynn Cassiers). The connecting thread was the romantic ‘murder ballad’ tradition. After premiering In The Pines to great acclaim, BJO crossed the country’s borders again with original music for the silent films ‘Pollyanna’ and ‘An Eastern Westerner’. The Sweetheart & The Daredevil, the third edition of BJO vs The Big White Screen, was watched by thousands of enthusiastic fans in Vienna’s breath-taking Konzerthaus. Bringing the month to a beautiful close, BJO and Tutu Puoane performed We Have A Dream in LantarenVenster in Rotterdam.
In April, BJO did guest appearances in CC (cultural centre, ed.) De Mol in Lier (In The Pines), then in the Chassé Theater in Breda (We Have A Dream), CC Het Spoor in Harelbeke (BREL) and finally the Schweriner Jazznacht festival in Schwerin, Germany (We Have A Dream). The month was also devoted to education, seeing the first project week of the Youth Jazz Collective, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra’s youth big band project for young musicians, a collaboration with Muziekmozaïek Folk & Jazz and Vuurvogels that began in November 2018. The talented young musicians exchanged ideas with BJO musicians, and after a week of rehearsal gave their first concert.
There was also a lot of interest in young talent in May. With The Future is Now BJO goes to the jazz clubs – the roots of the big orchestras – where they play with promising young musicians Muriel Urquidi (vocals) and Artan Buleshkaj (guitar). These up-and-coming talents had a stage in CC De Ververij in Ronse. In mid-May BJO was in BOZAR in Brussels along with performerss from Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belorus and Moldova, with Creating Together, a celebration of 10 years of Eastern Partnership. The merry month concluded with BREL in France, where David Linx and BJO performed in Le Volcan, the ‘scène nationale’ of Le Havre.
In the summer we continued BREL in France, with trips to two festivals, Jazz à Couches (Couches) and Cuivres en Dombes in Villars-les-Dombes. In August, Brussels Jazz Orchestra was warmly welcomed in the magnificent Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, for a concert van The Sweetheart & The Daredevil.
October brought a visit from the promising young American trumpet player and composer Ambrose Akinmusire. He and Brussels Jazz Orchestra played a series of concerts in the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg). The tour took them to the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven, the Stadsschouwburg in Leuven, De Oosterpoort in Groningen, the Centre Culturel in Dudelange and finished with a smashing concert in a packed BOZAR in Brussels. The repertoire consisted of Akinmusire’s own compositions, in arrangements by Jim McNeely. And it would only be fitting that in the month of Halloween there was another performance of In The Pines with Lynn Cassiers, this time at the Douro Jazz Festival in Portugal, in the Teatro in Vila Real.
The Youth Jazz Collective really got cooking in November, playing a warmly received concert in the Groenzaal in Ghent, led by Frank Vaganée. We also gave a performance of In The Pines with Lynn Cassiers in Bruges’ Stadsschouwburg and Pierre Drevet was an artist in residence in the French city of Vienne, with his project ECHANGE. At that point Pierre was celebrating 18 years of being a mainstay of the Brussels Jazz Orchestra’s trumpet section. The BJO had also regularly drawn on his services as an arranger and composer over the last few years. ECHANGE is predominantly made up of his new works, which he took to Vienne along with Brussels Jazz Orchestra and vocalist Claire Vaillant.
The year was closed off with an evening of protest songs in CC De Spil in Roeselare. We Have A Dream with Tutu Puoane was the final concert, closing off an exciting, international 2019 with a bang.
January 2020 started off with a bang of an International Composition Contest. For the 8th edition of this competition, Brussels Jazz Orchestra received no fewer than 168 entries from 27 countries on 6 continents. Finalists Callum Au (GB), Christopher Zuar (US), Rainer Tempel (DE) and Ralf Hesse (DE) were invited to conduct Brussels Jazz Orchestra playing the selected compositions on 12 January during the Brussels Jazz Festival in Flagey (Brussels). Callum Au (GB), who won with the composition ‘The Weaver’, received the BJO ICC Award from the international jury consisting of Pierre Bertrand (FR), Florian Ross (DE), Vellu Halkosalmi (FI) and chairman Philippe Coffyn.
On the evening of that same day (12 January) was the world premiere of the documentary ‘Bring It To The People’. Director Guy Fellemans had followed the orchestra closely for years to make this film. Following the enthusiastic reception at its première in Flagey, the film began a tour of Belgian cinemas and the digital edition of the DOCVILLE festival. Later the documentary was also shown on Canvas and RTBF, and it landed on the long list for Flanders’ Ensor award for Best Documentary.
In late January, Brussels Jazz Orchestra took to the stage for the first time with singer Monique Harcum, rapper Zediam and DJ Grazzhoppa. The project Two Places (then still titled We Orchestrate Words) had its premiere in the Concertstudio in Kortrijk, where an audience of young hip-hop fans, soul lovers and seasoned jazz cats shook their hips and clapped their hands to the grooves.
It was an impressive start to the year, and the Big Band Celebration in BOZAR had yet to take place. On 19 February, Brussels Jazz Orchestra was joined in the Henri Le Boeufzaal by The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra conducted by Wynton Marsalis, an amazing double bill that sold out BOZAR. The evening, with its undisputed high points being two premieres written for double orchestra, and a tribute to Toots Thielemans, has now become a legend.
On the following day, the two orchestras held a day-long educational event for students in BOZAR and the Brussels Conservatory. That evening there was a jam in Café Viktor (BOZAR) featuring musicians from BJO and JLCO. Students from conservatories and art high schools also participated. Sometime later that evening, they found themselves in the company of none other than Wynton Marsalis himself.
In February there was a workshop in the Academy in Deurne on the programme, in which several BJO musicians took part. In addition, the orchestra once again held Fire Up That Big Band, during which three amateur big bands were coached by musicians from Brussels Jazz Orchestra.
And then the lights went out, the curtain fell, and silence came to replace it … On 13 March, COVID-19 caused a national lockdown that necessitated the cancellation of all our planned concerts and activities. The pandemic required countless events to be rescheduled, and forced the orchestra to work out an alternative (digital) programme. Refusing to simply rest on its laurels, Brussels Jazz Orchestra started new artistic productions, organised studio recordings, set up and got interactive digital participative projects going and designed educational series that could be taken online.
An orchestral version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ was the first new artistic project under the lockdown. Each of the musicians recorded their own part from home, after which the whole piece – a new arrangement by Frank Vaganée – was mixed to an orchestra track. The video (picked up by The New York Times) in which all the musicians can be seen in their ‘pads’ playing the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, was Brussels Jazz Orchestra’s way of giving the world some encouragement. In April BJO received an invitation from Wynton Marsalis. Enthusiastic about the Big Band Celebration in BOZAR, he invited the orchestra to join in the Worldwide Concert for Our Future, the digital alternative to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual gala concert. In the virtual company of luminaries like Wynton Marsalis, Chano Dominguez, Dianne Reeves and Richard Galliano, BJO performed ‘Only for the Honest’ (Bert Joris). Later that year Brussels Jazz Orchestra took to the stage one more time: on 19 December they played their first concert on a stage since February. Ghent’s Bijloke was the set for ‘Footprint’, a live-streamed concert that brought the musicians together again for the first time in quite a while. To close the year, BJO asked illustrator Tim Acke to create an end-of-year present. ‘Musing on Music’ became a gorgeous graphic narrative, set to the music of Frank Vaganée.
Brussels Jazz Orchestra was also busy in the recording studio(s) in 2020. The album Two Places was recorded in (in order) Hoogeloon (NL), Galaxy (Mol, BE) and Great Oak (Rotselaer, BE). Dieter Limburg, who wrote the arrangements and composed, also acted as producer. Werner Pensaert did the mixing and Grammy Award winner Darcy Proper took on the mastering. The album was released in February 2021. In addition, the orchestra welcomed French singer Camille Bertault to work on the Gainsbourg project (a release is planned for 2022). Last but not least, the orchestra also had the company of some young and talented musicians in the studio: Artan Buleshkaj (guitar), Jesse Dockx (drums), Matthias Vandenbrande (sax), Roeland Celis (guitar), Muriel Urquidi (voice), Quinten De Craecker (trombone), Hendrik Lasure (piano) and Lennert Baerts (sax) joined them for the project ‘The Future is Now’.
As a third part of its corona response, BJO started up a few digital, participatory projects. ‘Play with BJO’ invited instrumentalists and singers to perform the song ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’ with the orchestra. Almost 40 people from Europe, North America and Africa sent in contributions, which Guy Fellemans (editing) and Gyuri Spies (sound) compiled into a video. Brussels Jazz Orchestra put out another call online a little later: to assemble a virtual international jazz orchestra for ‘Stay with us’, a piece that Frank Vaganée composed specially for the occasion. Musicians could play their parts from home and be part of this virtual orchestra. Gyrui Spies, Guy Fellemans and Filip Walgraef put all the contributions together to make a video which is truly a technical feat.
BJO also initiated various educational online video series. In ‘A Closer Talk’ people having a connection to the orchestra (programmers, staff and board members) were interviewed and shared their insights. Later the series was made into a podcast. In the three episodes of ‘From Paper to Stage’, Frank Vaganée explained to the online audience how he goes from an idea to a musical arrangement. The video series ‘Let’s talk about…’ goes into particular subjects in greater depth through a discussion with BJO musicians, for example having Dieter Limbourg, Nathalie Loriers, Frederik Heirman and Hendrik Braeckman talk about improvisation. Lastly, Brussels Jazz Orchestra asked Matthias Heyman to write a ‘long read’ about the history of big bands in Belgium. Starting in 2021, this was supplemented with video testimonials by BJO musicians and friends of the orchestra.
COVID-19 suddenly and dramatically threw a spanner in the works. Nevertheless, Brussels Jazz Orchestra managed to fill 2020 with exciting productions, studio recordings and online video series.
The start of 2021 does not equal the end to the strict measures against COVID-19. While concerts with a live audience are still out of the question, some of the BJO musicians are invited at VRT for a Toots session. Frank Vaganée, Jeroen Van Malderen, Bart De Nolf, Harrison Steingueldoir and Toni Vitacolonna bring a touch of the BJO from the legendary Studio Toots to the Flemish living rooms. The session is broadcasted on 28 January on Canvas and via the online platform VRT NU. A few weeks later it is programmed again on the occasion of the Week of Belgian Music.
At the end of January, the BJO and Kommil Foo decide to premiere the planned collaboration. After a few days of rehearsals, the Walschaerts brothers and the entire orchestra climb the stage of CC De Kern in Wilrijk. Thousands of people watch the try-out from their living rooms. The beautiful songs of Kommil Foo (arranged by Dieter Limbourg and Lode Mertens) combined with the dynamic power of the Brussels Jazz Orchestra are received enthusiastically.
On February 5th the album 'Two Places' is released, together with a clip for the song 'Another Day Another Night'. Dieter Limbourg wrote the arrangements for this mix of the BJO's orchestral sound, Zediam's rhymes, singer Monique Harcum's soul and the mixing, scratching and sampling skills of DJ Grazzhoppa. The album is received with acclaim: by Jean-Pierre Goffin in L'Avenir (Dieter Limbourg's nine compositions offer a fascinating wealth of sounds and contribute to the success of this exciting project.') and Robin Arends of Jazz'halo ('Scratch, rap, electronics, funky rhythms and swinging brass, modern themes wrapped in powerful vocals. All these elements contribute to a new, unique BJO sound.') to Jazz & Mo' ('One of the best productions we've heard in recent years (!)'). Dieter Limbourg, Zediam and Monique Harcum are invited to talk about the collaboration with Knack, BX1, De Standaard, Jazzism and Radio 1, among others.
At the end of March, the BJO once again reaches out to its (online) audience, with the streaming concert 'Footprint' from De Werf in Aalst. With a selection of original compositions by Frank Vaganée and Bert Joris among others, De Werf, the BJO and presenter Ella Michiels bring the concert hall to people's homes.
The same approach of 'digital proximity' is used in April for a new episode of the online series 'Let's talk about...', in which Jeroen Van Malderen talks about the trumpet and his experiences with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. In addition, for International Jazz Day, the camera is turned on Bart De Nolf, Marc Godfroid and Laurent Hendrick, who answer the question "What does jazz mean to you?".
At the beginning of May, the BJO extends its livestream series with 'Swing of Unity', a concert that aims to bring people together (who unfortunately cannot yet enjoy live music in a concert hall) to the sounds of new tunes. A digital alternative that seeks to compensate the lack of a live concert with an audience, with strong mystery guests: both Vanessa Matthys and Naima Joris accompany the BJO on stage (one after the other). For Swing of Unity the orchestra once again collaborates with CC De Werf (Aalst) and host Ella Michiels.
On 30 May, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra is welcomed to the special 'COVID-proof' Balcony Edition of Brussels Jazz Weekend. From the balcony of the Broodhuis on Brussels' Grand Place, the BJO closes off the festival. The concert marks the first in front of a live audience (divided into little groups) in 15 (!) months and the start of a hopeful summer.
Before performing again in front of a live audience, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra performs for the third time at CC De Werf for a final livestream concert. Special guest is guitarist Eliott Knuets, the young 17-year-old top talent who in 2020 already had the chance to jam with Wynton Marsalis and was later personally invited by him for a (virtual) session in the renowned Dizzy's Club. His talent is not only noticed by the digital BJO viewers, as Knuets starts an impressive musical career shortly after.
In July the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, together with Monique Harcum, Zediam and DJ Grazzhoppa, blows away the Brosella audience with Two Places, after the release of the eponymous album on vinyl (the first time in BJO history). That same month the orchestra, in collaboration with Halewynstichting vzw, organises the Big Band Summerschool in Dworp (Destelheide), where BJ0 musicians assist the participants for a week of rehearsals, jam sessions and workshops.
During the autumn, the effects of COVID-19 are still being felt, but despite some cancellations, the BJO is able to complete the concert calendar with performances in CC Belgica (Dendermonde, B) with Tutu Puoane (We Have a Dream), CC Bolwerk (Vilvoorde, B) with Monique Harcum, Zediam and DJ Grazzhoppa (Two Places) and Concertgebouw Amsterdam (the Netherlands) with Muriel Urquidi and Andrew Claes (In The Pines), preceded by an introduction by artist Erik Kriek. In mid-December, the Brussels Jazz Orchestra celebrates the reopening of Sounds, the Brussels jazz club where the orchestra was born in 1993. The concert marks the end of a challenging year.
