Saxophonist Ben Slujis has already written quite a bit of Belgian jazz history with his own quartets, but also alongside jazz greats such as Toots Thielemans and Philip Catherine. He helped create the current Belgian jazz scene with ensembles like Octurn and as one of the original members of the illustrious Brussels Jazz Orchestra. His collaborations with poets and spoken-word artists are equally notable. No wonder then that his latest project, a drum-less set-up that actually has more in common with a chamber music ensemble than anything else, is very poetically charged. "Marvellously accessible, yet nonetheless, unrestricted acoustic jazz", wrote Belgium's highly acclaimed weekly magazine, Focus Knack.
This trio was distilled from the Christian Mendoza Group, which released "Arbr' en Ciel" to great acclaim. The French bassist Brice Soniano and the Peruvian Belgian Christian Mendoza are both masters at refining melodies and experimenting with timbre. Like most jazz musicians of his generation, however, his interests are many and varied. The Christian Mendoza Group draws on a wide variety of styles: jazz to pop, world music, crossover, contemporary classical, free improvisation, even musical- and dance theatre.

(c) JazzLab Series 2013