JEROEN VAN HERZEELE & STÉPHANE GALLAND

Jeroen Van Herzeele & Stéphane Galland

With this duo, Jeroen Van Herzeele (Ben Sluijs, Mâäk’s Spirit, Toots Thielemans, Chris Joris, Philip Catherine) and Stéphane Galland (Aka Moon, Ibrahim Maalouf, Tigran Hamasyan, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Malcolm Braff) are opening another chapter in their musical experimentation and improvisation.

Jeroen and Stéphane crossed paths many times during their storied musical careers. One of their mutual projects was called Greetings from Mercury, a fusion group that mixed jazz, acid jazz, rock and rap. With their duo, they continue to blend genres and soundscapes.

Using different settings, saxophone, modular synths, EWI, drums and electronics, Jeroen and Stéphane experience live music in an interactive context with the use of multiple horns, overdubs, drums and electronics, and exhilarating dialogues about themes and metrics.

Their debut album is titled ‘Songshan’, after one of China’s five sacred mountains, the centre of heaven and earth. The album will be released on June 6th of 2025 by the Dutch label Buzz, a sublabel of Challenge records. The first single, ‘A Dance With AI‘, was released on April 25th of 2025. The second, ‘Total Lunar Eclipse‘, was released on May 23rd of 2025.

 

Saxophone player Jeroen Van Herzeele has been experimenting and finding his unique sound from a young age. He is constantly trying to perfect the language of jazz while searching for a soulful confrontation with the challenges the always changing world poses. He often improvises over modern, groovy rhythms with an urban flavor, without ever losing sight of the power of an acoustic instrument.

Stéphane Galland is known for his work with Zap Mama, Ibrahim Maalouf, Aka Moon and personal projects like Polar Dwarfs, (the mystery of) KEM. He and his son Elvin lauched The Gallands, combining jazz grooves with hiphop sensibilities. His most recent album is Stéphane Galland & The Rhytm Hunters, in which he takes on the role of guide for young musicians through rhythmic concepts from all over the world.

“The sound slowly grows fatter as a noisy groove blends with the cymbals. This sounds heavy, with hypnotizing dance/trance basslines. And once the synths are doing their thing, Van Herzeele has his hands free to play the saxophone. It’s as beautiful as it is natural.”
– Jazzradar

“In front of a packed and enthusiastic crowd, the duo unveiled the songs of an eagerly-awaited album.”
– JazzMania