Robin Eubanks, Henri Texier & Linda Fredriksson shape many magical moods in Brussels

The Brussels Jazz Festival suffered more severely than most events during the various lockdown periods. Its mid-January calendar placement led to the complete cancellation of the 2021 and ‘22 editions, so this month’s return is the first BJF since early 2020. Usually a 10-day festival, it’s now been compacted into four days, with a much greater density of programming. BJF takes over the Flagey cultural venue in Ixelles, just south of the Brussels city centre. Flagey is a large and very impressive Art Deco building from the 1930s, originally used as a radio studio, and reborn as a cultural venue in 2002. Its two main stages are Studio 4 (a large hall) and Studio 1 (an intimate basement room), both of them possessing fine acoustic qualities, and looking pleasingly woody.

There were few Americans present this year, but a whole range of European artists appeared, including several from the UK. The quietly magisterial French bassist Henri Texier opened up with his trio, which includes son Sébastien (reeds) and drummer Gautier Garrigue. Solos were felt out with sensitivity by all three players, as a sense of sonic questioning became clear, the opposite of familiar moves, but rather a feeling of continuing reconfiguration of the sound nature, according to the moment. They were evocative, emotive, atmospheric and often savouring slowly, imbuing ‘Round Midnight’ and ‘Besame Mucho’ with unfamiliar qualities, for such ubiquitous material. Alto saxophone caressed the first of those tunes, alongside tender brushes and pondered bass phrases, then the second number made it sound like the instruments were tasting the air, seeking out the surrounding moods.

The festival’s artist-in-residence was Nabou Claerhout, the increasingly prominent Belgian trombonist, who presented three formations throughout the long weekend. There was a trio with two Dutchmen, drummer Jamie Peet and guitarist Reinier Baas, the latter laying down loops, loving arpeggios and sometimes settling basslines down under. Claerhout herself used effects pedals to create multiple parts, at one point issuing a trebly trumpetesque line to flit up top. She also improvised a duet with Lynn Cassiers (vocals/electronics) in the hardly ever used Studio 10, a dimly lit den of concentration. Claerhout’s main gig involved her Trombone Ensemble, boasting six of those beasts, one of them handled by the guesting Robin Eubanks, who made his initial reputation with the inspirational Dave Holland Quintet. Claerhout’s music provides ample opportunity for ‘bone solos, with her own horn often being the most powerful or unusual in its phrasing. Eubanks integrated well with the band, but perhaps too well, as he didn’t fire up during his own solos, keeping them quite contained within the general spread, although his pedal electronics provided some wayward shocks during one solo run. The guiding trio of guitar, bass and drums also provided sterling work during their own spotlight stretches.

In similar fashion to the Texier trio, the Greek pianist Tania Giannouli also opened up the sensory pores with her own group of Andreas Polyzogopoulos (trumpet) and Kyriakos Tapakis (oud). This unusual instrumentation was finely balanced, the set opening quietly with a repeated piano figure, building up to a greater passion, with strummed oud and firework trumpet. The piano and oud worked closely, rounding the melodic phrases, trumpet slurring and peppering, in rogue perimeter outsider manner. Polyzogopoulos chose flügelhorn and Giannouli worked inside her piano, with each trio member eventually revealing a totally solo passage, before the three rejoined. This lunchtime set circled around In Fading Light, the trio’s 2020 album.

A few hours later, compatible states of calm contemplation arrived with Linda Fredriksson’s Juniper group (pictured above - photo by Olivier Lestoquoit), the Finnish saxophonist alternating between alto and baritone, heading a palette of keyboards, bass and drums. There was a gently burbling Tangerine Dream aura at first, but also surging heights of rawness when Fredriksson brought out the baritone, upping to gargantuan guttural peaks, then taking it back down to a softly misted lakeside contemplation. Fredriksson’s captivating folkish melodies were closely aligned with keyboard parts, given expression through tonality and phrasing.

Having caught a loud, bassy and pumping gig at Birmingham’s Hare & Hounds last year, your scribe wasn’t as much affected by Emma-Jean Thackray’s Flagey set, although those ensnaring numbers ‘Venus’ and ‘Our People’ were highlights. Conversely, your scribe’s appreciation of Kamaal Williams is growing, as his lengthy, rambling late night set found this Londoner moving from acoustic piano to his three electronic key-choices, cultivating a moody, minimalist house pulsation, his trumpeter Tanguay Jouanjan turning to congas, and his drummer Samuel Laviso bolting down a gnashing beat. The presentation was loose, but the unpredictability was refreshing.

It would be wonderful to have the return of the BJF’s full 10 days in ‘24, as this hectic four-dayer resounded with the continually tolling bells of each 15 minute (or less) interval countdown, as four or five concerts followed each other in very swift succession. Even so, this was an energised return, after three windswept years without the Brussels Jazz Festival.