- country:Belgium
- style(s):Global Fusion
- label:not signed
- type:Band, Quartet
- instrumentation:instrumental
- artist contact:Cluster vzw
Line up
- François Taillefer (percussion)
- Jernoen Knapen (ac. guitar)
- Thomas Noël (Wurlitzer, guitar, piano, ...)
- Wouter Vandenabeele (violin)
Links
Thomas Noël and Wouter Vandenabeele first met in the dark nineties as members of an underground folk group with which they made the nightlife of Ghent and Aalst unsafe for years.
Then their paths split: Thomas traveled to Australia and New York, Wouter headed for Africa and Greece. They seemed destined to meet again, but it was not until 2014 in Istanbul. This time they both brought a backpack full of music and experiences from all over the world.
The hunger to collaborate was so great that they stumbled into numerous projects together. For example, they worked with Özge Öz from Turkey (following the project Yolda by the Handelsbeurs and the Centrale), they played with Palestinian musicians in Ramallah, made plans for future projects in Italy, South Africa, Senegal… and they went on tour with the South African singer Stella Khumalo. It was during this last
feat that they collaborated with Jeroen Knapen, a young guitarist from the Waasland, with whom they decided to form a trio. This trio was later supplemented by the Canadian percussionist François Taillefer.
Their music is driven by a driving guitar and a plaintive violin, and is carried by a piano or the fat sounds of a Fender Rhodes and colorful percussion grooves. It can go in all directions: from Sephardic music from Greece and the Balkans, via sentimental waltzes, bluesy grooves and dislocated songs to Brazilian forros and oriental songs.