Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

At 43, Jeroen Van Herzeele is already part of Flemish jazz history. He was one of the young jazz musicians who wanted to give a new impulse to Belgian jazz in the early nineties, moving away from well-meant amateurism. It’s no wonder then that he was picked up by the JazzLab Series more than once (Jean Warland’s Sax-No-End, Octurn, the Van Herzeele Trio, Alice’s Five Moons, Greeting from Mercury, Mâäk’s Spirit, etc.). As Van Herzeele’s music grows more mature, he seems to become more and more engrossed in John Coltrane’s work. His quartet is usually less interested in harmony, melody or rhythm, but uses volume, texture, tone colour, and an interest in sound itself as a basis for improvisation.