It all started in 1969 when musician and radio producer Elias Gistelinck dared to create a jazz festival at a time when pop music was flourishing. Little did David Linx’s father know back then that his festival set in the Park Den Brandt in the south of Antwerp would become Belgium’s oldest jazz festival until it came to an abrupt stop in 2022. The organisation in charge of the two biggest jazz festivals in Belgium, Ghent Jazz and Jazz Middelheim, had never really recovered from the Covid-19 years when it was declared bankrupt in 2022. Unlike Ghent Jazz which suffered no interruption as it was acquired by the booking agency Greenhouse Talent, Jazz Middelheim has only restarted this year.
With the support of the City of Antwerp and its tourism office, a joint venture between Paradise City Festival and Brosella Festival was born and the phoenix could finally rise from the ashes to return to its original location. Instead of colliding, the two distinct Brussels-based organisations shared their passion for musical discovery, both in the field of jazz and electronic dancefloor music, with three stages spread in the beautiful 18th century park.
Attracting 11,000 attendees over four days, Jazz Middelheim made a strong comeback with many hours of non-stop music, starting as early as 1pm on Sunday with Jan Garbarek and his longstanding musical partners. The legendary Norwegian saxophonist has not led a record date for many years but this does not stop him from touring. In the course of his usual two-hour gig, the members of the quartet come and go, each one being granted a solo and what may seem a long set, especially when compared to the other shows ranging between 45 and 60 minutes, is not. Duelling with Trilok Gurtu in a flute-percussion conversation, hand-clapping swiftly spread in the audience. All this before the other two members of the quartet eventually rejoined them to end the concert. Garbarek’s flute playing seemed to echo when Shabaka hit the stage. Were it not for his fellow pianist, the London musician would have been soloing with his various flutes and electronica.
With headphones on his cap, Shabaka seemed more like a DJ experimenting with various ideas that eventually made me leave his temple of boredom long before the gig ended. Luckily, the real Shabaka Hutchings was back a short while later with the Speakers Corner Quartet. There was definitely a prominent UK presence that day if we add Alabaster Deplume and a special exchange project between young musicians from London and Brussels. The so-called BXL X LDN Interplay II is the second edition of a collaboration between Tomorrow’s Warriors (UK) and Brosella Festival (Belgium), providing a platform for emerging musical talent. Shortly before the young band made it to the big stage, the Ukrainian-born, London-based harpist Alina Bzhezhinska brought along her Hipharp Collective, a dynamic five-member band with a drum beat setting the tone for a highly enjoyable gig. Just like Brandee Young, Alina makes constant reference to her master, Alice Coltrane, whose memory was honoured last year in her project Celebrating Alice Coltrane.
Even if the harp is not the most typical instrument featured on the jazz scene, what about the harpsichord and theorbo? These two instruments were quite common in the 17th century when Antwerp’s Peter Paul Rubens was using the proceeds of his lucrative trade to embellish and enlarge his house, then the biggest mansion of the city. These baroque instruments completed the regular jazz outfit on Monday when Dutch guitarist Bram Stadhouders was joined on stage by Baroque Orchestration X (B.O.X.), founded in 2010 by theorbo player Pieter Theuns. Even if blending baroque and jazz instrumentation is challenging, the musicians managed to capture the essence of jazz in what could be described as “poetry in motion” with the tentet delivering intense groovy moments as well.
As the final of his four acts as artist in residence, Stéphane Galland brought the extended version of his Rhythm Hunters project. Following the release of their debut album on Challenge records earlier this year, Aka Moon’s drummer added to the core group made up of Wajdi Riahi on piano, Louise van den Heuvel on bass, Shoko Iragashi on tenor sax, Sylvain Debaisieux on alto sax and Pierre-Antoine Savoyat on trumpet, trombonist Robin Eubanks and baritone saxophonist Bo Van der Werf. Exploring rhythmic traditions from around the world is something Stéphane Galland has been doing for over 40 years with Aka Moon and he is now sharing his vast experience with younger cats.
First known for his trio format, Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas gave a mind-blowing solo recital, paying tribute to the Amazon. As he explained to his “family” (which is how he calls the audience), many Brazilian people know more about Disney than the Amazon river. Throughout his powerful set on a prepared Yamaha piano, he kept sending Amazonian vibes and, with the green surroundings and pouring rain, it was actually not very difficult to imagine being in a rainforest. His highly percussive and persuasive project tends to put Mother Earth where it should be, that is at the centre of our universe. While a dead planet called Mars seems attractive to some individuals, it is of course Earth we should all care about and why not let women lead the way and make the world go round? The Stylistics’ famous song People Make The World Go Round, with a slight but important change in the lyrics, served as a beautiful introduction for Dee Dee Bridgewater’s all-female quartet. Her latest project, We Exist, revisits timeless songs such as Percy Mayfield’s Danger Zone with an all-star crew comprising Carmen Staff on piano, upcoming bassist Rosa Brunello and Evita Polidoro.
Other highlights of the festival included GoGo Penguin, Theo Croker and the Bad Plus. The original Minneapolis trio turned into a quartet after Orrin Evans left the band in 2021. Opening a third chapter in the 25 year existence of the band, Reid Anderson and David King are now joined by Ben Monder on guitar and Chris Speed on saxophone. While playing mostly tunes from Anderson and King, Monder’s commanding presence, paired with Speed’s gently undulating yet persistently inquisitive melodic lines, creates a richly expanded sonic palette.
Now that Jazz Middelheim has opened a bold and exciting new chapter, let us hope that this evolving story has many more vibrant pages yet to be written, and that we remain far from approaching its final act or witnessing the closing lines of its epilogue.
Jazz Middelheim, Park Den Brandt, Antwerp, Belgium, 6-9 June 2025
