Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

Charles Gayle & Han Bennink, each with a career of more than forty years behind them, are two jazz legends not often seen on the same stage together.

Gayle lived as a busker for over twenty years. He played what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted: “the free-est of free jazz”. In the nineties, the pianist-saxophonist was finally discovered and performed at New York music heaven The Knitting Factory and at several European concert venues. Today, he has released several albums, recording as a solo artist or with his trio or quartet.

As a young boy, Han Bennink couldn’t stop drumming on tables and chairs. His parents soon gave him a drum kit, but Bennink still prefers unconventional percussion instruments. He has played with a host of big names, including saxophonist Sonny Rollins, pianists Myra Melford, Misha Mengelberg and Fred Van Hove, guitarist Eugene Chadbourne and trumpeter Dave Douglas. Last year, you could watch him live at Vooruit with the Han Bennink Trio, but now he’ll return for a unique collaboration with Charles Gayle.