As festival curators, Brussels' cultural venues, jazz promoters and conservatories can make themselves known outside their own walls and reach out to other music lovers thanks to a shared artistic vision, social role and special selection of artists. As a free festival, the Lotto Brussels Jazz Weekend is highly accessible, making it the ideal opportunity to discover the immense richness of Brussels' cultural sector and the contemporary Belgian jazz scene.
The festival has brought together six of Brussels' top cultural venues -AB, Botanique, Bozar, Flagey, Les Lundis d'Hortense and VK- two conservatories -Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles and Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel- Brussels Jazz Alert' young jazz promoters, who together created this unique musical offer. Each partner has made its own mark. The result is as varied, intriguing and vibrant as the city itself: a young, contemporary and diverse program, full of discoveries - from jazz and soul to hip-hop and electro, and even a real salsa evening on Place Sainte-Catherine.
"The Lotto Brussels Jazz Weekend aims to raise the profile not only of Belgian jazz, but also of Brussels as a cultural metropolis. What better way to achieve this than to involve and give a leading role to Brussels' emblematic cultural temples, each of which, in its own way, plays a high-quality role on a daily basis. Alongside legendary clubs and cafés, they all shape the cultural fabric of our capital", say Gert Claes and Steven Palmaers, the festival's inspirers.
Giving young musicians opportunities to play and grow
Flagey is a place where different artistic disciplines meet and where young Belgian talent is offered new opportunities. This fits perfectly with the playing and development opportunities that the festival offers to young musicians. Together, they present Vitja Pauwels, Lara Rosseel, Gert-Jan Dreessen and Dishwasher_ on the Grand-Place, young artists who have taken the jazz scene by storm in recent years and who deserve to be known by a much wider audience.
The Citadines podium on Place Sainte-Catherine is even entirely geared towards the new generation. To this end, an intense collaboration has been naturally set up with the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles and the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel. Brussels Jazz Alert 's young promoters rounded off the program with some particularly interesting up-and-coming artists.
Social role
Bozar is a welcoming, dynamic art center whose heart beats in Brussels. It provides a platform for artists from Belgium and around the world. Victor Horta's Art Deco building allows the visual arts, music, film, performance and ideas to roam freely, just like in an animated body. Bozar aims to be a lively space for the living arts.
"I'm very excited about the program Bozar can present alongside the Lotto Brussels Jazz Weekend, in an iconic venue like the Grand-Place. It's a diverse program, a fine mix of international and local talent."
Roel Vanhoeck, Music Deputy Director at Bozar
With its focus on music, community and the neighborhood, VK is a perfect match. No doubt the hard-hitting soul, the hip-hop touch and the strong, authentic emotions will speak to the local youth.
"I want the program I've put together on behalf of VK to be a tribute to the soulful tradition of jazz, with virtuoso vocals, and a look at how traditional jazz shapes the sounds of the future."
Eric Cyuzuzo, VK music programmer
Promoting Belgian jazz
Sunday traditionally is the day of Les Lundis d'Hortense, the association of belgian jazz musicians and amateurs. This organization, like the festival, is dedicated to the dissemination and promotion of Belgian jazz. They seized this opportunity as an ideal complement to their own concerts and the Belgian tours they organize, resulting in a particularly fine selection of pure hard-boiled jazz.
"Our program is collectively put together by our passionate administrators. For the festival they selected four belgian favorites: don Marsh V, Tom Bourgeois – Rumeurs, Macondo Trio and Camille-Alban Spreng’s ODIL feat. Nina Kortekaas"
The team of Les Lundis d’Hortense
Open-mindedness
Under the banner "Jazz & Beyond", the stage located Place de la Bourse unabashedly explores the frontiers of jazz, always with an open mind. Pure milk for the program's three partners: Botanique, AB and VK. These cultural centers share the festival's commitment to curiosity and open-mindedness in the search for new music.
Botanique has chosen to spice things up with Jean-Paul Groove and Don Kapot, who may well be responsible the first moshpit in the festival's history.
"With a mix of influences, our Brussels jazz scene manages to reflect the beauty of the city through a unique sound."
Thomas Konings - Botanique Programmer
AB is undoubtedly an emblematic concert venue that distinguishes itself artistically through its own projects and productions, and by focusing fully on the development and support of young talent. There's no compartmentalization here: AB caters to music lovers in its broadest meaning. A large festival stage set up in the center of Brussels will be ideal to embody this spirit.
"We want to reach out to as wide an audience as possible, whether they are jazz fans or people who come to enjoy jazz to overcome their "fear of jazz". Tip: jazz doesn't bite, but it does grab you by the throat."
Kurt Overbergh - Artistic Director, AB
The Lotto Brussels Jazz Weekend wants to be firmly rooted in the city's DNA, and hopes that the people of Brussels and music lovers from all over the country and beyond will take the festival's slogan "Discover jazz, discover the city" to heart, and take the time to discover the many facets and diversity of the capital too.
