Jazz Middelheim / Line-up

Thursday 16 August Tickets >

21:30
Ornette Colemanexpand
At age 82, in the autumn of his career, the jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman continues to give thrilling performances. This great jazz innovator is not even countenancing the idea of retirement. The music of the man with the white saxophone as ever is unforgettable even though the ‘Samuel Beckett of jazz’ is also somewhat of a riddle.

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19:30-20:45
Night Of The Jazz Guitars feat. Larry Coryell with Special Guest Philip Catherineexpand
What happens when a few jazz guitar greats come together to form a guitar quintet? Do they play chamber music? Do they honour tradition? Are they innovators? Do they deliver amazing solo feats? All of the above, of course, and more. Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine, two masters on the guitar are joined by three other gentlemen who cherish their strings.

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17:30-18:45
Kris Defoort Trioexpand
Kris Defoort is a classically trained musician who subsequently realised that jazz was his real passion. He burst on the scene with his KD’s Basement Party and earned a reputation in recent years as a composer of operas and contemporary classical works. Now and then he keenly misses the freedom of jazz and the stage. For the hundredth edition of the W.E.R.F. label Defoort recorded a wonderful album, ‘Live in Bruges’, together with his trio.

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Friday 17 August Tickets >

21:30
Toots Thielemans Quartet 90 Yearsexpand
2012 will be the year of Toots Thielemans. Toots Thielemans is a Belgian jazz monument and living legend and will celebrate his ninetieth birthday this year. To Jazz Middelheim he will bring his faithful harmonica in order to play his caressed jazz standards and own songs. Since Toots performed at Jazz Middelheim in 1981 and became the godfather of the festival, he has been present at each edition since. Toots installing himself between the trees at Jazz Middelheim always results in magical moments.

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19:30-20:45
Stefano Bollani – Hamilton de Holandaexpand
Pianist Stefano Bollani and the Brazilian bandolim player Hamilton de Holanda make casual and playful music filled with cheerful and dazzling passages. In this duo two musical virtuosos come together.

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17:30-18:45
Eric Vloeimans & Holland Baroque Society: High Speed Oldtimerexpand
Wondering what the combination of baroque gut strings with a modern trumpet sounds like? The Dutch trumpet player Eric Vloeimans and the Holland Baroque Society travel in time and sail past four centuries of music. They hike from the high north to the warm south and discover the most remarkable things. Or the seventeenth century through the eyes of jazz virtuoso Vloeimans.

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15:30
Artesis conservatoriumexpand
More info about this project coming soon.

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Saturday 18 August Tickets >

21:30
Paolo Conteexpand
At age 75 Paolo Conte has already led a life as lawyer (by day) and as musician (by night). In 1987 he breaks through with the song ‘Max’ which he wrote for a recently deceased friend. He is notable for his heavy, smoked voice and his wistful, often melancholic lyrics. His music bathes in nostalgia. The feeling of being in a barroom is never far away, although Paolo Conte never hides his love for jazz.

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19:30-20:45
Zara McFarlaneexpand
Zara McFarlane is one of the latest new-added members of the Gilles Peterson’s label Brownswood Recordings. Last year she brought out her first album ‘Until Tomorrow’. Today she is considered to be one of the most promising artists within the British jazz scene.

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17:30-18:45
MixTuurexpand
Tuur Florizoone, accordionist, pianist and composer at the same time, started to get great audience response with his soundtrack for the film ‘Aanrijding in Moskou’. As a musician he oscillates between jazz, folk and world music. MixTuur is a gathering of his musical friends originating from Belgium and Africa. He made a composition inspired by the story of the illegitimate children for the anniversary of 50 years of independence in the Congo.

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Sunday 19 August Tickets >

21:30
Abdullah Ibrahim’s Ekayaexpand
At age 77 the pianist Abdullah Ibrahim is one of the most famous representatives of the South African version of jazz. He mixes popular and traditional South African music with jazz. With his 7-headed band Ekaya he plays his own familiar compositions. He merges the world of jazz with his own South Africa resulting in a chunk of powerful music, with catching rhythms and an enormous poetic power.

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19:30-20:45
Avishai Cohenexpand
(NL) Bassist en componist Avishai Cohen brak door in de jaren negentig aan de zijde van pianist Chick Corea. De jongste jaren verwekt hij meer en meer zijn Joodse roots in zijn muziek. Van zijn moeder leerde hij over de sefardisch-mediterrane cultuur, van zijn vader over het Oost-Europese joodse erfgoed. Daar komen nog zijn ervaringen in de New Yorkse jazzscène en zijn Israëlische achtergrond bij.

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17:30-18:45
Jef Neve ‘Sons Of The New World’expand
Pianist Jef Neve still is considered the wonder boy of the Belgian jazz scene. “Sons Of The New World” is his latest, ambitious project. He wrote twelve compositions in which he expresses his social commitment, which are based on shocking events such as the storm that hit the Pukkelpop festival, the nuclear disaster in Japan, the Arabic Spring.

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15:30-16:45
Flat Earth Society + Ernst Reijsegerexpand
The music of Flat Earth Society (FES) does not bear identification marks. Under the management of Peter Vermeersch, the group was characterized by its festive mixture of different genres. A big band opera, a silent film or a dramatic concert: Flat Earth Society has done it! The labels pop, rock, jazz nor world music match the sound. The band likes to face challenges and keeps on bringing new stuff!

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