Saxkartel
Granted, Saxkartel's set-up is a rather unconventional one: a quartet of saxophones, of all shapes and sizes, without even the slightest ping of a rhythm section. You immediately have a tendency to compare them to a classical string quartet, but their music upholds all the basic ingredients of solid jazz - "swing" and "groove".
The intimacy they convey and the deceptive fragility of their occupation is, of course, Saxkartel's greatest strength. Their repertoire is all over the shop.
Frontman Tom Van Dyck (°1967) writes congenial, vivacious arrangements. Be it with their own compositions or their nifty versions of Mingus or Monk classics, Saxkartel weaves the sounds together seamlessly. You actually forget the absence of piano, drums and bass.
The quartet swiped the jury prize at the Jazz Concours at Tremplin, in the summer of 2006. Having gained international recognition, they released their second CD Yellow Sounds & Other Colours in 2007. The CD blends the colourful palette of sounds from the four saxophones with the soulful voice of South-African/Belgian singer Tutu Puoane. The music of Mingus, Joni Mitchell, Duke Ellington and Van Dyck himself was rarely so colourful and refined. Jazz to be framed.
(c) JazzLab Series 2009