EXACT DATE: FRIDAY MAY 27(and not Saturday 28 as announced in the Jazzmarathonbrochure!)

FREE double bill, two CD launches, AB Main Hall, entrance via the Steenstraat, as part of the Brussels Jazz Marathon.
Buyse is that other impressive rapper from 't Hof van Commerce, with his extremely entertaining solo CD out now on the refined Petrol label. La Chiva Gantiva is a chiefly Columbian collective based in Brussels and supplying blatantly cheering but never banal festive fusion music.

Buyse
A few highlights from the press release by Jan Delvaux. 'Our country contains many rap languages. French and West-Flemish are the most suited ones for this rhythmic form of expression. French because it sings, West-Flemish because it’s Dutch in English.
Most striking act on the French side is the dead and buried Starflam. The West-Flemish camp is led by the temporarily inactive ’t Hof van Commerce. Cauwelier became successful West-Flemish singer-songwriter Flip Kowlier. Serge Buyse a.k.a. BZA (after RZA), MC Buyse or Dommestik, 35-or-so, Ghent resident, father of twins, former animation-film student. He made a comic strip, ‘Adventures In Cult City’ (www.cultcity.net). In the spring of 2009 Buyse once again dedicated himself to his alter ego. Everything that swings passed the revue on ‘Buyse’: reggae, hardcore, old skool hip-hop, swing-beat… The ideal diet for a man who calls himself a music-lover with broad tastes who raps because he can’t sing.
‘Buyse’ is as naked as its title. The cover was finished in an oh-so-powerful white-red-blue, also used on the boxing posters in Izegem. The beats were kept sober. Less was more. The composition was meticulous. An opening line like a bullet, a careful balance between serious and silly, not too cheap and clocking off at more than 40 minutes. As less would be too little.
First person singular. That is ‘Buyse’. That’s what ’t Hof van Commerce is not. The trio reunites in 2012. If all goes as planned. At least… the other two are holding their breath for what Buyse might set in motion. They’re sold on it.
Buyse coming at you. With personnel. Backing vocals are by freestyle king RIEMELOARE, known from De Nihilisten. DJ BLACK FRANK is a phenomenon there in Ghent where folks dance to r&b, hip-hop and soul.

La Chiva Gantiva
Straight away a very large and highly approving piece in De Standaard, on the weekend of Saturday 22 January 2011.
La Chiva Gantiva Colombian party music Brussels-style.
If there’s one world-music band that should make it big this year then its La Chiva Gantiva. Or how three Colombians in Brussels explored their roots.
Those who leave their country take a piece of it with them and what better way to do so than through music?
That’s what Rafael Espinel thought too, when he came to study art in Brussels in 2005.
In the house where he was living were other students from his homeland.
The three made music together in-between their studies. 'One of us studied theatre, the others were active in art', says Espinel. ‘There was often a party vibe at our house and so we quite naturally ended up in the bars of Brussels. From there it was a small step to the smaller festivals and once we were on top of our repertoire it seemed time to record some songs. The 5 song EP Apretao was released at the end of 2008 and that helped us further, to the big festivals.’ So it was that La Chiva Gantiva - named after founding member Natalia Gantiva - already appeared at Couleur Cafe and Esperanzah, and at big festivals in Germany and France.
La Chiva Gantiva makes fusion music. The basis is Colombian cumbia but with a modern touch. ‘We want to generate festive energy’, explains Espinel. ‘We absolutely don’t want to sound like the latino bands that you often see here at festivals. It contains folklore, and afrobeat, and rock. A bit of everything actually.’
Those who want to get an idea can view a concert-collage on the band’s website.
It’s a multi-coloured mishmash, with a Fleming, a Walloon, a Frenchman and a Vietnamese in the band too. ‘And we often welcome guests up on stage’, grins Espinel. ‘We feel even better then.’ After growing for five years the band thought it was time to record an album. They ended up choosing Richard Blair: a British producer who worked with Peter Gabriel and Colombian diva Toto La Momposina, and who lives in Colombia. ‘We had him come over to the studio Vega in Avignon. They have very rare recording equipment there. The music is largely recorded live and will be mixed in England. We don’t have a title yet and we’re in the process of choosing a record company.’ (vpb)