Sounds Jazz Club reopens!
Situated in the heart of Ixelles, a stone’s throw from Place Fernand Cocq, this highlight of the Brussels cultural scene has undergone some essential maintenance and repairs since it was closed in March 2020 and a more in-depth renovaotin will take place in the Summer of 2022. The reopening will be an opportunity to celebrate and to pay homage to the founders of the club and to the musicians who have played an important part in the club’s history. The club’s concert programme will be based around jam sessions, exceptional concerts and discovery of new talents.
With its distinctive bugle and tulip badge, Sounds’ identity will live on in its new guise. Sounds Live, a dynamic team of musicians and music professionals, are dedicated to carrying forward the project launched by Sergio and Rosy in April 1986. As of 18 November, jazz will once again resonate in this good old Brussels club with a steady stream of Belgian and international artists gracing its stage. Living up to its heritage as a cradle of jazz history and a focus of creative energy, Sounds will finally be able to once more entertain its diverse audience! The concert programme until the end of June 2022 will be chosen by a commi8ee of musicians, renewed every three months, drawn from a wide range of backgrounds, generations and diverse musical styles.
Concerts will take place Wednesday through to Saturday every week, with a programme featuring many famous Belgian and international jazz musicians. Drummer Antoine Pierre and trumpetist Jean-Paul Estiévenart will act as band leaders at the grand opening night on 18 November. Over the following weeks there will then be a succession of renowned artists in various formats including Michel Hatzigeorgiou, Philip Catherine, Bert Joris, Nathalie Loriers, Bo Van Der Werf, David Linx, Nelson Veras (BR), Igor Gehenot, Eve Beuvens, Julie Erikssen (FR), Kit Downes (EN), Félix Zurstrassen, our own houseband “Sounds Swing Machine”, Wajdi Riahi (TUN), Fabrizio Graceffa (IT) and many others…. And then to cap it all, the launch will reach its climax with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra! This internationally famous Belgian big band, celebrated for its prize winning film scores, will be returning to the club where it was founded 25 years ago!
Over and above the artistic aspect of the project, the new vision of the club is also focused on retaining its human dimension and being tuned in to current issues. The range of drinks and food available at the “new” Sounds bar will be based on the same logic: locally brewed and bio beers, organic wines, Belgian spirits and local produce.