Belgian jazz
Two important people in Belgium largely influenced the development of jazz in those early years: Félix-Robert Faecq and Robert Goffin.
By 1890 saxophones in the United States were made by the Conn and Buescher companies, and Belgian virtuoso saxophonists such as Jean Moermans of Sousa's Orchestra ensured the growing popularity of the instrument.
An important year for the spread of American popular music was 1903, when John Philip Sousa's band toured in Belgium and performed at the international exposition of Brussels in may.
[3] It was only after the First World War that jazz actually became popular in Belgium, which was largely due to the efforts of Félix Faecq and Robert Goffin.
Félix Faecq was introduced to jazz music in the postwar period after meeting American and Canadian soldiers who liberated the country.
He also made good use of his contacts with London publishers to provide Belgian professional musicians with the latest jazz scores so that they did not have to rely on just hearing the records.
In the 1920s, there were plenty of Belgian jazz musicians working in dance halls, cinemas, theaters, bars, cafes and 'cabarets chantants'.
An additional advantage was that it gave them the opportunity to make international contacts and enabled them to visit the country where jazz originated.
He then went abroad and after the disintegration of his group he founded the Cabaret Kings in Spain, consisting of one part black musicians, a few Spaniards and five Belgians.
A typical formation of that time consisted of the following musicians: trumpeter De Kers, saxophonists Jean Robert (nicknamed "the Belgian Coleman Hawkins"), Oscar Toussaint and André Geysens, bassplayer Fernand Fonteyn, pianist Henry Segers and... guitarist Toots Thielemans.
The major big bands like Robert De Kers and his Cabaret Kings performed regularly in the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts and in the hall of the Antwerp Zoo.
In 1946 Don Redman’s orchestra toured in Europe, followed in 1947 by Sidney Bechet (visiting Antwerp and Brussels) and Louis Armstrong.
These orchestras could count on a large crowd of spectators wherever they came, because the soldiers of the liberation armies appreciated the music of the often highly professional Belgian bands.
In his short career (he died at the age of 37) he played with such greats as Chet Baker, Kenny Burrell, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Donald Byrd.
In 1934 the Belgian gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt formed the quintet Hot Club de France with the French violinist Stéphane Grappelli, his brother Joseph and Roger Chaput on guitar and Louis Volla on bass.
At the outbreak of the war, during a tour in England, Django left Grappelli behind and returned to Paris, where in 1940 he recorded his famous song Nuages with jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Hubert Rostaing.
The early 1950s in the United States was the period of cool (or west coast) jazz, more peaceful than bebop, and with a more outspoken interest in composition and arrangement.
The Antwerp saxophonist Jack Sels became the leader of the All Stars Bop Orchestra, inspired by the Afro-Cuban big bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Kenton.
Francy Boland managed to distinguish himself in the United States, where he worked with the bands of Count Basie and Benny Goodman, and with jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams.
His most loyal partner and friend was Jacques Pelzer who, after the adventure with the Bob Shots, imposed himself in this decade as an outstanding musician of European jazz.
Drummer Félix Simtaine (1938) debuted in the quartet of Robert Jeanne and then accompanied a series of American and Belgian soloists.
Guitarist Philip Catherine (1942), even before his twentieth year, jammed at la Rose Noir, played at the festivals of Comblain and Ostend and toured Europe with Lou Bennett.
Jacques Pelzer worked in Italy, touring with Chet Baker; Toots Thielemans worked in Germany and Sweden, composed his hit Bluesette, and then returned to the U.S. in 1964; René Thomas set up a new quartet with Jaspar, played with Pelzer and Lee Konitz at European festivals, before falling back into a lean period in 1966.
Still, despite these tough times for jazz, a few young musicians managed to get noticed: Jean-Pierre Gebler (bariton sax), Robert Graham (guitar), Marc Moulin (piano), John Linsman (trumpet), Robert Pernet (drums), Bruno Castellucci (drums) and Snowy Struvay (trumpet).
In the United States the new style was baptized "jazz-rock", giving rise to European bands like the British group Soft Machine.
A number of Belgian artists are associated with this style, also called "Fusion": Philip Catherine, Jack Van Poll, Jacques Pelzer, Richard Rousselet, Robert Jeanne and Felix Simtaine.
Popular groups at that time were Placebo (Marc Moulin), Cosa Nostra (Jack Van Poll), Open Sky Unit (Pelzer), Kleptomania and Arkham (Radoni), Solis Lacus (Herr), Cos and Abraxis (Loos).
This return is due in part to the emergence around 1984 of the compact disc, enabling reissues of many jazz classics; the illustrious labels (Blue Note, Pacific, Verve, Impulse!..)
At the educational level, self-education that characterized previous generations, is now increasingly replaced by training in schools, at workshops and seminars.
Several Belgian musicians are traveling to the United States to attend classes at Berklee College in Boston, the most famous jazz school in the world.
