(© Willy Schuyten)
A new name, a new CD, and a number of (guest) musicians. The Brussels-based jazz collective Mâäk has reinvented itself yet again. Buenaventura is an excellent re-energizer.
Mâäk: adventure with a capital A
CD | Mâäk ●●●
Buenaventura jazz (W.E.R.F.)
The CD’s title, Buenaventura, is no coincidence. This company, centred on four wind instruments, still specialises in Adventure with a capital A. The group is currently led by trumpeter Laurent Blondiau, saxophonists Guillaume Orti and Jeroen Van Herzeele, and the virtuoso tuba and trombone player Michel Massot. Along with percussionist Tamás Geröly, the quartet gets the CD going gradually. Just like at their concerts, the musicians peacefully stroll from their different spots to a central point from which they begin their journey together. The wind instruments set the course in constant dialogue with each other, but they regularly also stray from the central story arc. It’s at those times that guest musicians step in to animate the whole thing. They include bassist Claude Tchamitchian and guitarists Gábor Gadó and Norbert Scholly. We were especially struck by the way this colourful company makes a layered and multifaceted story completely clear. The “Spirit” may have been scrapped from the group’s name, but Blondiau and co. haven’t lost an ounce of their inventiveness. On the contrary, they have become even more refined and subtle. They make music in the same spirit as before, but the details are elaborated more precisely. As a result, Buenaventura is a complex audio play with numerous frame narratives. Performed live, all these characteristics are enlarged in typical Mâäk fashion.
Mixit, 26/1, 14.00 (Mâäk: 19.30), free, Campus Nieuwland, Nieuwland/rue Terre-Neuve, Brussel/Bruxelles & 26/4, 20.15, €10/15, Flagey, www.flagey.be
Buenaventura jazz (W.E.R.F.)
The CD’s title, Buenaventura, is no coincidence. This company, centred on four wind instruments, still specialises in Adventure with a capital A. The group is currently led by trumpeter Laurent Blondiau, saxophonists Guillaume Orti and Jeroen Van Herzeele, and the virtuoso tuba and trombone player Michel Massot. Along with percussionist Tamás Geröly, the quartet gets the CD going gradually. Just like at their concerts, the musicians peacefully stroll from their different spots to a central point from which they begin their journey together. The wind instruments set the course in constant dialogue with each other, but they regularly also stray from the central story arc. It’s at those times that guest musicians step in to animate the whole thing. They include bassist Claude Tchamitchian and guitarists Gábor Gadó and Norbert Scholly. We were especially struck by the way this colourful company makes a layered and multifaceted story completely clear. The “Spirit” may have been scrapped from the group’s name, but Blondiau and co. haven’t lost an ounce of their inventiveness. On the contrary, they have become even more refined and subtle. They make music in the same spirit as before, but the details are elaborated more precisely. As a result, Buenaventura is a complex audio play with numerous frame narratives. Performed live, all these characteristics are enlarged in typical Mâäk fashion.
Mixit, 26/1, 14.00 (Mâäk: 19.30), free, Campus Nieuwland, Nieuwland/rue Terre-Neuve, Brussel/Bruxelles & 26/4, 20.15, €10/15, Flagey, www.flagey.be
Read more about: Muziek
Fijn dat je wil reageren. Wie reageert, gaat akkoord met onze huisregels. Hoe reageren via Disqus? Een woordje uitleg.