In music, a quartet or quartette is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices or instruments.
The saxophone is a family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. Although most saxophones are made from brass, they are categorized as woodwind instruments, because sound is produced by an oscillating reed, traditionally made out of woody cane, rather than lips vibrating in a mouthpiece cup as with the brass instrument family. As with the other woodwinds, the pitch of the note being played is controlled by covering holes in the body tube to control the resonant frequency of the air column by changing the effective length of the tube.
Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas, among others. He attended Berklee College of Music.
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the Alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".
Stéphane Galland is a Belgian jazz drummer.
Mâäk’s Spirit is a Belgian avant-gardist jazz band. They recorded their fifth album live in Ghent in 1998. The band was then composed of Jeroen Van Herzeele, Laurent Blondiau, Salvatore La Rocca and Hans Van Oosterhout (drums). For the next two albums, the line-up changed to :
Kris Defoort is a Belgian avant-garde jazz pianist and composer. He was born on 30 November 1959 in Bruges. He also teaches at the Brussels conservatory. His brother is Bart Defoort.
Erik Vermeulen is a Belgian jazz pianist. He entered the Belgian jazz scene when he was 22 with his trio. At the time, it featured Heyn Van de Geyn on bass and Dré Pallemaerts on drums. Soon after that, he started performing with different jazz bands and musicians including the Frank Vaganée Quartet, Erwin Vann Quartet and Peter Hertmans.
De Werf was an arts center and jazz record label (W.E.R.F.) in Bruges, Belgium. In 2002, the label released an eleven-CD box set titled The Finest of Belgian Jazz, with music by Greetings from Mercury, Aka Moon, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, and Kris Defoort. Rik Bevernage, De Werf's main collaborator, received an award at the 2002 Golden Django ceremony.
Chris Joris is a Belgian jazz percussionist, pianist and composer. He is the son of Jan Joris, an opera singer. Joris joined Aksak Maboul in 1977, appeared on their first album but left the group later that year. In the mid 1990s, he formed The Chris Joris Experience, a jazz band with Sam Versweyveld (trumpet), Bart Defoort (saxophone), Ernst Vranckx (piano) and Chris Mentens. He won the 1998 Belgian Golden Django for best Flemish artist.
Variations on A Love Supreme is a jazz album composed by Fabrizio Cassol and Kris Defoort. It contains variations on A Love Supreme, the classic jazz album by the John Coltrane quartet. It was released in 1995 on the De Werf label, and is representative of the Belgian jazz scene.
Brussels Jazz Orchestra is a Belgian jazz orchestra with big band line up founded in 1993 by saxophonist and composer Frank Vaganée, Serge Plume, Marc Godfroid and Bo van der Werf. Since 1999 the orchestra is supported by the Flemish government.
Greetings From Mercury was a Belgian jazz fusion group led by saxophonist Jeroen Van Herzeele. The group included the members of the Jeroen Van Herzeele Trio, plus bassist Otti Van Der Werf, rapper Steve Segers and sound engineer/producer/sitarist Michel Andina, who recorded all their albums and played on the last two. They released their first album, Greetings From Mercury, under Van Herzeele's name.
Sketches of Belgium is a 1993 album by jazz band K. D.'s Basement Party led by Kris Defoort. It is the first release of De Werf label, and the only release by K. D.'s Basement Party. The three musicians from Aka Moon play on the album. It was recorded on September 7, 8, 9, 30 and October 1 and 2 in 1992.
Matthias Kadar, composer, was born in Paris of Hungarian-German parents. After a short study in economics, he decided to concentrate on music and composition.
The European Jazz Ensemble is an ensemble of jazz musicians.
Jacky June was a Belgian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader.
Timothy M. Ries is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate/conservatory level. Ries is in his twelfth year as a professor of jazz studies at the University of Toronto. His universe of work as composer, arranger, and instrumentalist ranges from rock to jazz to classical to experimental to ethno to fusions of respective genres thereof. His notable works with wide popularity include The Rolling Stones Project, a culmination of jazz arrangements of music by the Stones produced on two albums, the first in 2005 and the second in 2008.
Orchestra National de Jazz is a French jazz ensemble originally created at the initiation of Jack Lang, at that time Minister of Culture. Its first leader was François Jeanneau.
