Kris Defoort Trio
CURRENT
Three inspiring musicians, each from a different generation, add their personality to the musical material proposed by Kris Defoort. Together they redefine ‘jazz music’ by bringing out the best in each other and making their audience part of this musical dialogue.
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The new musical material reflects Defoort’s sensibility towards the broad imaginary field of art. He is inspired by his experiences as a composer within the field of jazz and contemporary music. His refined compositions allow spontaneous moments of improvisation and alternate with inspiring adaptations of standards and pop songs. It is a pure joy to see how the three members of very different generations and therefore jazz-backgrounds succeed in bringing the best of ‘jazz’ to the surface. Alongside Kris Defoort on piano this trio consists of Nicolas Thys on electric bass and Lander Gyselinck on drums.
NICOLAS THYS (left)
Belgian bass player Nicolas Thys graduated in 1993 from the Hilversum Conservatory with the compliments of the jury. Later he took private lessons with Dave Holland, Marc Helias and Marc Johnson. In 2000 he moved to New York, searching for new experiences. Nicolas Thys is one of these bass players who can switch easely from an electric to an acoustic bass. He played with a wide range of musicians and bands as Rick Hollander, Lee Konitz, Judy Niemack, Bill Carrothers, Bart Van Lier, Toon Roos, the Metropole Orchestra of the Dutch radio, The Timeless Orchestra, Garret List and the New Belgian Big Band, Simon Nabatov, Marc Ducret, Toots Thielmans, Mark Turner, Bob Malach, Jasper Van’T Hoff and Benny Bailey. With his solid yet flexible basslines he is an important anchor in this trio.
LANDER GYSELINCK (right)
Lander Gyselinck was a student at the free impro-class of Kris Defoort at the Brussels Royal Music Conservatory. In 2009 he was rewarded “Best Soloist” on the XL-competition of Brussels Jazz Marathon, together with “Best Group” and “Public Prize” for his own band, LABtrio. In 2010 he received the prestigious “Toots Thielemans Jazz Award” and played concerts in China with Li Tie Qiao, representing Unesco, Ghent “Creative City of Music”. His excentric musical taste compasses much broader then just jazz, expanding the boarders to electronic music, pop, hip-hop, free-impro, indian music, noise and performance... This makes his playing very creative and adventurous.