The summer is gradually coming to an end and that is almost never good news. Were it not for the fact that, with autumn approaching, this means the start of a brand new season at AB! On top of that, we celebrate our fortieth birthday and can’t let pass unnoticed. Prepare yourself for a musical year-end of the very best kind. Artistic director Kurt Overbergh confesses which concerts you really shouldn’t miss.
United Music of Brussels
A classical concert, in a temple of contemporary music? It is possible! The Belgian National Orchestra, the Munt and BOZAR take over the streets of Brussels for the fourth time during United Music of Brussels. AB sees to a spectacular closing concert. On the bill: a meeting between members of the Belgian National Orchestra and musicians of Marockin’ Brass. The latter is the brainchild of jazz musician Luc Mishalle, who goes in search of the perfect amalgamation of jazz, brass and gnawa music (a genre that unites the rich musical world of Islamic spiritual traditional and rhythms from Morocco).
Curious about the result? United Music of Brussel appears on Saturday 7 September.
AB40 Kick-Off curated by 2manydjs (DEEWEE) + Nosedrip (Stroom)
Do the Dewaele brothers even need any form of introduction? The duo from Ghent is a world authority on music – be it as 2manydjs, Soulwax or one of their many other projects. DEEWEE is the most recent brainchild, straight from the craniums of David and Stephen. It is a building, a studio, a label, a record collection and a publisher.
So we’re very proud to have 2manydjs celebrate AB’s fortieth birthday with us and take care of the curation for the celebratory weekend. With Future Sound of Antwerp, Asa Moto, Philippi, Public Possession and 2manydjs themselves on the bill, it promises to be a sweaty night of partying that you’ll really want to attend.
The Stroom label then puts together the night in the Club, with Nosedrip, Victor De Roo and David Morley on the line-up.
Tickets for the party, on Saturday 21 September, are available here.
Echo Collective plays Jóhann Jóhannsson’s ’12 Conversations With Thilo Heinzmann’ + Martin Kohlstedt (Solo)
AB goes to church! For the third time, we head to the place where the largest Beguine community in the country was once housed: the Béguinage Church in the heart of Brussels.
Martin Kohlstedt is a German piano virtuoso who is often named in the same breath as that other contemporary neo-classical hero: Nils Frahm. He recorded his latest album with the 70-member GewandhausChor and it quite definitely his magnum opus.
’12 Conversations with Thilo Heinzmann’ was the last work by Jóhann Jóhannsson. Just before his death, he asked Brussels’ Echo Collective to record the twelve superbly refined compositions,
Interested in hearing how that sounds in the Béguinage Church? Tickets are available here.
Deafheaven / Touché Amoré
Deafheaven manages to reconcile black metal, post-rock and shoegaze harmoniously and this provided their album Sunbather with a first place in the Pitchfork 'Top 40 Metal Albums of 2013' Chart. For Deafheaven, it’s already their third time in AB… their grim black-metal guitars have already resounded in our Club. And you know Touché Amoré from their support act for Rise Against, in 2012.
Tickets for the concert on Friday 4 October are available here.
Bill Callahan
Just one note of Bill Callahan and you'll be intoxicated. His albums? Gems, each and every one of them, for which the endless repeat button was invented. In an other life (in 2000, to be precise), he once appeared in AB with his band Smog. Callahan determines his own rhythm, free from the rules of the music industry. So his most recent album ‘Dream River’ already dates from 2013 and he simply tours when he feels like it. But one thing is for sure: his pure, sober songwriter-craftsmanship gets under your skin every time.
The Bill Callahan concert takes place on Sunday 6 October. Tickets are available here.
Dengue Dengue Dengue
Digital Cumba: that’s the name of the genre in which Dengue Dengue Dengue has been doing its thing since 2012. Aside from that, the Afro-Peruvian band is not afraid of a party and they pull out all the musical stops in the direction of Kuduro and Zouk. Add to that some exotic instruments, like the cajita or the quijada, and you get the ideal mix for an enthralling night.
Dengue Dengue Dengue plays on Friday 11 October in AB. Tickets are available here.
Sarathy Korwar
Sarathy Korwar learned the tricks of the trade in India. He mixes his passion for the tabla – a widely-used Hindustani instrument – with jazz and electronic music. That successful formula has already brought him to SXSW and ReWire and in contact with the Dalai Lama.
An absolute must-see in AB Club, on 15 October. Tickets are available here.
Stef Kamil Carlens & Band
In 2017, Stef Kamil Carlens made his re-entry into the pop circuit with ‘Stuck in the Status Quo’. The Zita Swoon boss released 12 albums with Moondog Jr. and Zita Swoon and is now on to his second solo album, to be released this autumn. On stage he will be accompanied by Nicolas Rombouts (contrabass), Nel Ponsaers (keyboards), Alma Auer (harp) and Maarten Moesen (drums). On the menu: new and old work from his extensive repertoire, ranging from melancholy to super funky.
Stef Kamil Carlens appears in AB on Wednesday 23 October. Tickets are available.
Theon Cross
Theon Cross is not only a prominent member of British jazz band Sons of Kemet, the tuba player is also doing at least as well solo. He has played with the likes of Pharoah Monch and Emeli Sandé, and it is not without reason that he is seen as a key figure in the London jazz scene. A tip: be sure to check out Cross’ superb collaboration on Makaya McCraven’s album ‘Where We Come From’!
Tickets for the show, on 29 October, are available here.
TaxiWars: ‘Artificial Horizon’ (album release)
Tom Barman decided to steer his musical career in yet another new direction when he established the jazz band TaxiWars in 2014. Barman – obviously a fanatic jazz-lover himself – did that together with Robin Verheyen, one of Belgium’s most successful saxophonists. Five years later, the band is on to its third album ‘Artificial Horizon’ and TaxiWars chose AB for its release. Highly recommended, the most exciting musical project on Belgian soil at the moment.
Tickets for the album release on Sunday 10 November are available here.
