23.01.25, 19:30, JUNKYARDPOOL + Telex Jam

KASK & Conservatorium jazz teachers present a tribute to Jazz’s great composers, accompanying jazz master saxophone player Simon Rigter (collaborations with the Dutch Jazz Orchestra, The Reeds, Curtis Fuller, George Coleman, Joe Cohn, Jim Rotondi, Nancy Marano, Alvin Queen, Ferdinand Povel, Ruud Jacobs, Pim Jacobs, Frans Elsen, Rob van Kreeveld, Peter Beets, and Marco Kegel and many more).

On tenor sax: Bart Defoort, guitar: Hans Van Oost, double bass: Janos Bruneel, drums: Toon Van Dionant and piano: Christian Mendoza.

Three vicious brigands and a court jester storm Fort Telex!
Stretch your goatskin, don your armour and prepare for spectacle. After Goatskin can jam paint off the walls, bring your instrument.

Trapped Ants is a pop/rock duo best described as the musical cross between twenty one pilots, Muse and My Chemical Romance. Lead singer/pianist/bassist Niels is currently studying at KASK & Conservatorium where he will graduate this year with Trapped Ants as his graduation project. This is a try-out for his graduation concert.

The sage lurks in every moment of every day, in every sneer, or smile. The challenge is to grasp it and, again and again, find the courage to pull it out of the shadows into the light. This confrontation is the friction that sets me on fire, from which I dedicate myself to creation. Each work is an opportunity to face my fears and expand the space within myself. Welcome to an atmosphere created by Cedric Haeck and like-minded people under the banner: ‘Sage’.

Flautist Nele Vernaillen performs compositions that hover between warm jazz harmonies and narrative improvisation, as well as more elaborate themes and grooves. As the graduation project of her master jazz the Conservatory of Ghent, she collaborates for this with Willem Heylen (Lara Rosseel Quintet, Aki, Games & Motifs ...) on guitar, Anke Verslype (Aki, Bodem ...) on drums, Cedric Haeck (Milo Meskens, Bani Adam ...) on bass and Oya Bakiroglu (Anemoon, Ikaro ...) on darbuka/percussion.

What do you do when you are 20 and your big dream is to dedicate your life to music? Ask Emma Demoor and the answer will be: go all the way and work hard for it. And that is what she does. A young maestro who has already made a name for herself here and there with her band Ventus, and is now ready, with her solo project Desma, to introduce the world to a particularly beautiful musical universe.

Desma brims with dreamy and somewhat mysterious indie pop, in which themes such as the search for identity and the big questions of life lead to catchy pop songs. Desma does not shy away from mystery, and does not easily allow itself to be pigeonholed. Dreamy and mysterious? Yes, but Desma also pushes the boundaries of electro and rock. In terms of vibe, Desma connects with bands and artists like Trixie Whitley, PJ Harvey, Wende Snijders, Tsar B and SX.

Demoor is surrounded by like-minded souls, friends-musicians she got to know at KASK & Conservatorium, and with whom she easily speaks the same musical language: Danzel Hoever (drums), Babette Rogiers (keys), Esmee Cuvelier (bass) and Robbe De Bock (guitar). A combination that already paid off in a fairly recent past: Desma won the Gent Crochet (as part of Gent Got Talent) and got a spot on the main stage of the Gentse Feesten, 2024.

• 21:45 - 22:30:  AYATARU (support act)
• 23:00 - 00:30: MDCIII

20 Belgian projects were selected by a professional jury to perform during the official artistic program of the European Jazz Conference, that’s coming to Ghent this September. Supported by Sabam for Culture and PlayRight.

Tribal voodoo band MDCIII was founded by Mattias De Craene (Nordmann) and creates a sublime crossover, starting from the possibilities of drums and saxophone. Drummers Simon Segers (De Beren Gieren, Black Flower) and Lennert Jacobs (The Germans) have been part of the Belgian pop, jazz and experimental scenes for years, while De Craene has a reputation for being equally at ease in diverse surroundings. Together, they explore a legacy that started with John Coltrane & Rashied Ali, keeping the spiritual and explorative in a fascinating balance. An eponymous EP and their debut album Dreamhatcher established the band as a powerhouse unit. Sophomore album Drawn In Dusk (2022) further strengthened their reputation, with a sound that dives into psychedelia, combining the contemplative, cosmic and epic.

EJC Ghent 2024 is possible thanks to Ha Concerts, VI.BE, JazzLab, Europe Jazz Network, Creative Europe, Bijloke Muziekcentrum, Stad Gent, Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Lotto, Sabam for Culture, PlayRight, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques, Museact, Belgium Booms, VIERNULVIER Gent, DEMOCRAZY, Gent Jazz & Omer.

• 21:45 - 22:30: Support act Jules & Gents (come early!)
• 23:00 - 00:30: FNUSSJEN

20 Belgian projects were selected by a professional jury to perform during the official artistic program of the European Jazz Conference, that’s coming to Ghent this September. Supported by Sabam for Culture and PlayRight.One of those projects: FNUSSJEN! 

Fnussjen is the brainchild of drummer / percussionist Nicolas Chkifi. Their music hovers between the folkloric and the contemporary, yet always with a meditative character, and is presented as a sequence of miniature compositions written by Chkifi and linked together by adventurous improvisations.

EJC Ghent 2024 is possible thanks to Ha Concerts, VI.BE, JazzLab, Europe Jazz Network, Creative Europe, Bijloke Muziekcentrum, Stad Gent, Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Lotto, Sabam for Culture, PlayRight, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques, Museact, Belgium Booms, VIERNULVIER Gent, DEMOCRAZY, Gent Jazz & Omer

This event will take place on 15 May instead of 29 March and has been moved to Club Telex.

Come and discover our emerging vocal talents! The pop and the jazz singers and the band put together a program full of uplifting songs. The students collaborate in different line-ups: vocal bands, solo pieces and choir work. After the unforgettable first edition of last year, we proudly present: Voices Ahead 2024.

Band: Robin Lambrecht - gitaar, Jesse Vandecaetsbeek - piano, Cedric Haeck - bas, Ruben Van Hove - drums

Singers: Nel Hadermann, Katarina Pohlodkova, Angel Gebruers, Nomy Reynders, Djuwita Brees, Larissa Sorée, Ine De Maertelaere, Nona Seddik, Gonzalo Temmermans, Yana Woedstadt, Milica Hadžic, Jente Van Havermaet, Emma Demoor, Jessica Wandee King, Julie Honorez, Myrthe Marnef, Matteo Jonckheere, Lisa Baert, Luna Maes, Blauw De Greve, Kim Eldarova, Tibo Polleunis, Milla Broothaers, Ibe Wuyts, Tomas Casella Dendooven, Marlies Van Poelvoorde.

Artistic researcher Jerry Galle explores the use of language co-created by artificially intelligent algorithms. The mediation of the world through constantly circulating and replicating texts generated by both robots and humans has a dramatic impact on conceptions of politics, culture, economics and language itself.

Jerry Galle will talk about the impact of artificial intelligence on his creative processes and how you too can benefit from this new technology in your artistic practice.

His work has been shown at MHKA, Bozar, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, British Film Institute, Wiels, International Film Festival Rotterdam, EMAF, International Film Festival Hamburg, Museum Dr Guislain and Ars Electronica, among others.