Jazz city: a guide to jazz in Belgium

Coming up next week is the Brussels Jazz Marathon, (22-24 May).  All over the city, you’ll be able to catch acts of blues, jazz, soul, funk, swing and beyond entirely in a free festival that pays tribute to Belgium’s rich jazz history.

Since before the Second World War, Belgium has been a hotbed of jazz in Europe. Some of the jazz’s biggest names have come out of this tiny country, including , not Django Reinhardt, Toots Thielemans and Philip Catherine, not to mention the most jazzy of instruments, the saxophone, was invented in here Adolphe Sax in Dinant.

The basics: Django and Toots

If you’re going to know any two names of Belgian jazz, they should be Django Reinhardt (pictured) and Toots Thielemans. While born in Belgium, guitarist Django Reinhardt is often more closely associated with France, where he spent much of his early life learning his craft in the Roma communities outside Paris. Later, he created the famous quintet the Hot Club de France and composed some of jazz’s most popular standards, including "Nuages", "Minor Swing", "Belleville" and “Swing '42".

Reinhardt developed a style called gypsy jazz that blended the popular swing sound of jazz of the1930s through 1950s with the darker flavours of Reinhardt’s Roma roots. He had an enormous influence many Belgian jazz musicians, including Fapy Lafertin, who has developed modern gypsy jazz, and Belgium’s other jazz hero Toots Theilemans.

Today, one of the highest accolades a jazz musician can earn is the Django d’Or, an awards ceremony held in various European countries, namely France, Belgium, Sweden, Italy and Denmark, to honour top jazz players. In Belgium, the ceremony is held alternately at the Ghent Jazz Festival and Dinant’s Leffe Jazz Nights, every year awarding either a French-speaking and Flemish recipient.

Thielemans: a Brussels musician

Perhaps the most influential Belgium-based musician alive, jazz guitarist and harmonica player Toots Thielemans has played an integral part of the development of jazz of the twentieth century. Born in Brussels in 1922, he has worked with the greatest names of music of the twentieth century, from Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald to Edith Piaf, Quincy Jones and Paul Simon.

In 2009, he was awarded the title of Jazz Master by the US National Endowment for the Arts, the country’s highest honour for a jazz musician. At the age of 92, after a career spanning eight decades, Toots Thielemans only retired from music making in 2014. Even then, the Brussels’ staple still made a surprise appearance at Antwerp’s Jazz Middelheim Festival last summer.

Follow the music

For those looking for the real thing, Brussels has a lively jazz scene and several venues where you can see good to great jazz musicians perform. The city’s standbys are The Music Village and Jazz Station. Both of these larger venues lend stages to a wide variety of artists, from the biggest international names to small local acts.

There are also smaller, more intimate places to take in some jazz. Sounds in Ixelles has all the low-lit warmth and vibrancy you want in a jazz club. You’ll find authentic gypsy jazz at Art Base, a small café, exhibition and performance space in Brussels city centre. Also, while the infamous L'Archiduc is no longer the jazz haven that it once, you can still catch some impressive jam sessions on Saturday and Sunday evenings at 5 p.m.

Festival life

Besides jazz clubs and cafes, Belgium also plays host to several jazz music festivals throught the year. Besides the Brussels Jazz Marathon, which starts next week, Ghent Jazz (10 – 18 July) and Antwerp’s Middelheim Jazz (13- 16 August) attract some of the biggest acts globally with their summer line-ups. Middelheim remains orthodox in its adherence to the jazz genre, and this year offers performances by Dr. John, Archie Shepp and Bill Frisell. In Ghent, you can catch a wmore varied roster, including Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Van Morrison and BRZZVLL with Anthony Joseph.

Other festivals include Dinant’s Leffe Jazz Nights (July, dates to be announced), the free Fam' and Jazz Festival (July 18) in Marche-en-Famenne, and Huy’s Ça Jazz à Huy (July 23–26).

Finally, July 4th and 5th, Europe’s first-ever jazz festival Comblain-la-Tour Jazz Festival will be held for its 56th year. This legendary festival has hosted names such as Ray Charles, John Coltrane and Nina Simone.