BRAM DE LOOZE

De Looze made his entrance onto the national jazz scene with LABtrio (with Anneleen Boehme and Lander Gyselinck) and immediately impressed with his rich language, technical prowess and maturity, which earned him considerable praise from his peers. As happens so often, it was a period of studying abroad (at the New School For Jazz And Contemporary Music in New York, where he studied with Uri Caine and Marc Copland, amongst others) that sped things up considerably. De Looze launched the international Septych, released an album on the acclaimed Clean Feed-label, and kept searching for new modes of expression. One such example is his trio with fellow Belgian Robin Verheyen and drum master Joey Baron, which released ​MixMonk​ to great acclaim in 2019.

There was more. Besides solidifying the ever-expanding group of like-minded musicians (Stéphane Galland, Antoine Pierre, Dre Hocevar,…), De Looze also set out on a solo trajectory, and hardly a regular one. After paying a visit to Chris Maene’s collection of pianofortes, De Looze started a project using three such instruments, approaching their historical position from a contemporary viewpoint. The resulting album ​Piano e Forte​ (2016) and accompanying tour were met with rave reviews. Two years later, he recorded ​Switch The Stream​ with the revolutionary Chris Maene Straight Strung Grand Piano, once again allowing him to combine historical roots with modern techniques and perspectives. His most recent solo album – ​Colour Talk​ – introduces a Straight Strung Grand Piano by ​Rafael Viñoly​, the next step in the merger of sound, conception and design.

As the histories of jazz and classical music keep expanding and being available, it can become challenging to make your own mark as a musician and composer. Technical skill and infinite knowledge of compositions will allow you to impress for a while, but it will not suffice to make an impact that lingers. You could connect De Looze to many of today’s piano masters, but only to a certain degree, as he always manages to add his own twist. He shares a talent for reinvention with Jason Moran, but does so from a completely different angle. Like Fred Hersch, he keeps refining that touch, but steers away from the romanticism. He has the broad imagination of a Mehldau, but replaced the Panavision approach with a more intimate one. Once in a while, De Looze’s ruminations might remind you of Craig Taborn’s architectural complexity, but with a lesser focus on the physicality.

Most of all, De Looze’s art is about ​shape-shifting.​ Not in the sense of replacing one thing with something completely different, but with a focus on steady evolution, the use of several idioms (whether it is jazz, classical music or free improvisation) and reinvention. It is a universe where meditation and adventure, dissonance and purity co-exist in a neverending attempt to capture the intangible.