Seppe Gebruers (born May 9, 1990) is a Belgian musician, composer and improvisor. He is also a teacher and researcher at KASK conservatory Ghent. Gebruers plays both solo and in bands. His work ranges from jazz to contemporary classical music.
Gebruers has, since his first concerts at the age of twelve, gained a reputation as an adventurous and uncompromising musician. Currently, he investigates the possibilities of quartertones in piano, composition and improvisation.
Early life
Gebruers started to play classical piano when he was 8 years old, but soon became interested in jazz. Jef Neve became his teacher and at age 12 he played in Belgium and abroad with his pianotrio (with Jakob Warmenbol and Nathan Wouters). In 2004 he performed at Sportpaleis for Night of the Proms. The same year he won a grant for Young Musical Talent.
At the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp he studied both jazz (with Erik Vermeulen) and classical piano (with Levente Kende).[1] Gebruers started his education with a clear vision: "I knew which direction I wanted to go in: I wanted to make contemporary music that sounds intuitive."[2]
While Gebruers often clashed with the traditional ways of the academy, he quickly developed a strong connection with Vermeulen. The latter quickly concluded that 'he had nothing left to teach' and the teacher-student relation soon developed into one of musical sparring partners.
Later life and career
Gebruers was the leader of the large ensemble Ifa y Xango which won the 2011 Jong Jazztalent Gent award and performed at Gent Jazz in 2012.
Their "irreverence, brought about by a sense of quasi-naïve frankness, would become the group's and Gebruers' trademark".[3]
Their first album 'Abraham' was selected by New York City Jazz Record (US) as 'Best Debut Releases 2013'.[4] Their second album 'twice left handed \\ shavings' (2015) experiments with electronic music. Here Gebruers plays with electronic instruments and live sound processing.[5]
In these years, Gebruers also collaborated closely with his teacher Erik Vermeulen. They formed a piano duo and in 2013 they released their album 'Antiduo'. Later, the duo became a quartet with drummers Marek Patrman and Eric Thielemans, resulting in the album 'Rorschach' (2019).[6]
About Gebruers' performance in 'Antiduo', the press wrote:
"Mean, against the grain, and unhindered by standard musical practice, Gebruers develops an unfettered entity, which is not in the least bit concerned about what is allowed or taboo, or the way things are supposed to be."[1]
In 2013 Gebruers' group Bambi Pang Pang (with Viktor Perdieus (saxophone) and Laurens Smet (double bass)) played at Jazz Middelheim with the legendary American drummer Andrew Cyrille. This collaboration led to another album 'Drop your plans' (2015).
At the heart of this album lies an exploratory spirit that combines the lyrical with the abstract, and the sensitive and intuitive with the rational. A warm, intimate and generous statement that first and foremost believes in the lasting power of human interaction, the subtle variations in the breaks and the fragments and the story that they might tell." Guy Peters
In 2013 Gebruers co-founded the musical collective Troika, of which he is the artistic director. Troika is an organization that regards improvisation as a means to make music rather than as a genre. With this idea in mind Troika organizes concerts, produces albums and conducts interviews.
Currently, Gebruers' major project is the exploration of microtonality. For this, he plays and improvises with two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart.
In 2019 he started a research project at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, titled 'Unexplored possibilities of contemporary improvisation and the influence of microtonality in the creation process'. Gebruers:
tuning the pianos a quartertone apart, I play with our collective artificial habit: the equal temperament. Since J.S. Bach's Das wohltemporierte Klavier, the custom in Europe is to have twelve equal semitones in one octave; a uniform system of tuning that still dominates Western music. Adding quartertones, one octave is divided into twenty-four equal intervals, multiplying the harmonic possibilities. Thus, our playmate – tonality – who had become a self-evident tool, is brought to the fore. I do this both to question the tradition and out of love for it.[9]
in "the choice to play each keyboard with only one hand ... the possibilities of microtonality reach their full disorienting potential. Placing two differently tuned pianos next to or across one another makes playing "right" and "off-key" lose all their meanings, and allows the music to unfold in all its kaleidoscopic glory" (Koen van Meel)
With two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart Gebruers recorded 'The Room: Time & Space' (2018) in a trio formation with drummer Paul Lovens and bassist Hugo Anthunes.
In his solo project 'Playing with standards' (album release January 2023), Gebruers plays with famous songs including jazz standards. With Paul Lytton and Nils Vermeulen he forms a 'Playing with standards' trio.
Literature
A plea for polyphony
Seppe Gebruers critiques the professionalisation of the arts, particularly the music industry, for prioritising commercial and ideological agendas over authentic, transformative experiences in music. He questions the current relationship between artist, audience, and the cultural institutions that mediate this interaction, suggesting that these dynamics compromise the essence of musical creativity.
The Impact of Professionalisation
Gebruers observes that the arts are increasingly driven by consumerist goals, with agencies, curators, and managers shaping what is created and how it is received. He notes:
"Music is often created as a made-to-order product, tailored to the vision of the curator or what is deemed commercially successful."[10]
This professionalisation places musicians in a precarious position, forcing them to cater to industry standards rather than pursue their artistic visions. He warns of a cultural climate where aesthetic complexity is sacrificed for ideological and logistical concerns, reducing art to something easily consumable and marketable.
Authenticity vs. Presentation
A recurring theme in Gebruers' essay is the conflict between authentic artistic expression and the pressure to present one's work in a comprehensible, polished format. He laments the loss of "tasting" in music—a dynamic, experiential engagement:
"Once the musician identifies with a ‘taste,’ it becomes a conscious product that can be consumed as a fashion. Taste is no longer in the constant motion of tasting and adjusting."[10]
Gebruers advocates for "aesthetic empathy," where both musician and listener engage in a shared process of discovery. This stands in contrast to the industry’s preference for predictable, recognisable styles.
Diversity as an Ethical Display
While acknowledging the importance of diversity, Gebruers critiques its superficial implementation in the arts. He argues that the overemphasis on representation often leads to performative gestures rather than substantive inclusion:
"When diversity is exhibited too emphatically, profound diversity is often lacking."[10]
This performativity, he suggests, can undermine genuine efforts toward inclusivity, replacing meaningful engagement with tokenistic displays.
Polyphony as a Model
Gebruers proposes polyphony—the interplay of diverse and independent voices—as a model for rethinking cultural dialogue and decision-making. Drawing inspiration from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Ricercar a 6, he argues for an approach that embraces tension and difference rather than seeking uniformity or consensus:
"Being polyphonic is a complex exercise in which you constantly learn to sense your place in a group."[10]
This model, he suggests, could foster more dynamic and inclusive discussions among artists, curators, and other stakeholders, leading to a richer and more unpredictable cultural landscape. [10]
Esthetics
"My music is not that much 'beautiful', but it is personal. I have often thought about the way communication flows between musician and audience, and what it is that goes wrong so often. The best scenario would be an audience that more or less 'undergoes' the music, like a dream or a nightmare, which the audience dares to go along with you, into the depth. But often it fails because of the social aspect. Because of celebrity. Take, for instance, The Beatles. Fans thought the concert was a dazzling success before it even began." "Beauty is recognisability and recognisability is very important for people. In western society everyone is prone to the will to understand. We don't go to school to 'undergo' something, but to understand something." "I love hearing the lack of control of a musician that you cross limits and lose track of time and space. And that's how I lose control over my facial expressions."
"I do try to be in command of the two of them: control and the lack of it. That way I can return to my comfort zone when I need to. You can easily see when I play collectedly. Then I sit straight like a classical pianist."
Translated from a dutch interview with Seppe Gebruers:
Interview met Seppe Gebruers over Antiduo, door Koen Van Meel, Kwadratuur: Seppe Gebruers (Antiduo, Ifa y Xango), Met "nieuw" ben ik niet bezig, met het onverwachte wel, Door Koen Van Meel | Toegevoegd op 1 januari 2014[2]
Playing with two pianos
"Adding quarter tones gives a greater diversity of emotional charge in harmony and melody," says Seppe. "As pianists, we often think in black and white. Now you suddenly start thinking in between." "Music should not be understood, music should be experienced. There is no such thing as difficult music. This is not difficult music. It may wring, but that wringing or that tension is also an experience, those are also emotions that can be addressed. My research is successful if people take more time to start experiencing music again."
From an interview by Olav Grondelaers in his radioprogram 'Music Matters' made for the Belgian radio station radio klara broadcast by the VRT. [11] Later also published by Troika's Youtube channel with English subtitles.[12]
Compositions
Gebruers created music for films: Het zwijgen van elena (2012),[13] The Reconstruction (2016),[14] and Etangs Noirs (2018)[15] and for several theatre pieces by Tibaldus].
Awards
SABAM Jazz Award 2014 "a great musical daring and striking curiosity that go beyond the usual formulae" (the Sabam Awards)[16]
Best Debut record 2012, 'Abraham' by Ifa y Xango selected by the New York City Jazz magazine.[17]
Jong Jazz Talent 2012, Ifa y Xango, Gent Jazz.[18]
As a teenager:
My First Night 2004 (First Prize of the piano competition of the Night Of The Proms Belgium, Sportpaleis)[19]
Music Live 2004 – Jeugd & Muziek (with the trio 'Jazzfact with Jakob Warmenbol & Nathan Wouters)[20]
Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal intervals per octave. In other words, a microtone may be thought of as a note that falls "between the keys" of a piano tuned in equal temperament.
Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means unforeseen. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of improvisation can apply to many different faculties across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines; see Applied improvisation.
Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop and modal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting, and became preoccupied with creating something new. The term "free jazz" was drawn from the 1960 Ornette Coleman recording Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation. Europeans tend to favor the term "free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music".
Friedrich Gulda was an Austrian pianist and composer who worked in both the classical and jazz fields.
The music of Belgium is a cultural mix where Flemish Dutch-speaking and Walloon French-speaking traditions mix with those of German minorities and of immigrant communities from Democratic Republic of the Congo or other distant countries.
Juan Sebastián Lach Lau is a Mexican composer of classical, microtonal and electroacoustic works.
A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, and have 24 different pitches.
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 Hein 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.
Nikolai Girshevich Kapustin was a Soviet composer and pianist of Russian-Jewish descent. He played with early Soviet jazz bands such as the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra. In his compositions, mostly for piano, he often fused jazz and classical forms.
Paul Lovens is a German musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw, and cymbals. He has performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra.
Tui St. George Tucker was an American modernist composer, conductor, recorder virtuoso and creator of unique musical instruments. Her compositions often feature microtonality and are strongly influenced by jazz, Buddhism, the music of Medieval Europe, and more. She developed special recorders with extra holes, in addition to unique fingerings for modern recorders to allow for the playing of quarter tones, typically in 24-tone equal temperament.
Guus Janssen is a Dutch composer of contemporary music and a recording artist. A pianist and harpsichordist, he is also active as a jazz performer.
Rob du Bois was a Dutch composer, pianist, and jurist.
The history of jazz in Belgium starts with the Dinant instrument maker Adolphe Sax, whose saxophone became part of military bands in New Orleans around 1900 and would develop into the jazz instrument par excellence. From then on the early history of jazz in Belgium virtually runs parallel to developments in the country of the birth of jazz, from the minstrel shows in the late 19th century until the first Belgian jazz album in 1927 and beyond.
Jef Neve is a Belgian jazz and classical music pianist and composer.
Bram De Looze is a Belgian jazz pianist who trained at the Lemmensinstituut and at the New School For Jazz and Contemporary Music, under the tutelage of Uri Caine, Marc Copland, and Reggie Workman.
Ben Sluijs is a Belgian jazz saxophonist, flutist and composer.
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