Programme
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Times |
Artists |
|---|---|
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19:00-20:00 |
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20:30-21:45 |
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|
22.30-23:45 |
Kraak & Smaak
About
Consisting of Oscar de Jong, Wim Plug and Mark Kneppers, Kraak & Smaak’s impressive perfor-mance and studio career have seen the trio consistently create refreshing records and outstanding DJ and live moments during extensive global touring across Europe, in the USA, South America, Asia, China and Mexico.
Establishing themselves with a distinctively warm and uplifting sound across genres as disco, funk, electronic, indie, deep house, soul and even pop, Dutch crew Kraak & Smaak’s vibrancy was first in-troduced to the world via their debut album, 'Boogie Angst'. With the buzz it created their perfor-mances in The Netherlands quickly lead to invitations to play at Europe’s biggest festivals as well as crossing over to the U.S, highlighted by dates at SXSW, Coachella, and Miami's WMC.
The second album, 'Plastic People' dropped in 2008, and its hit single 'Squeeze Me' helped secure an international audience, gain the band significant media attention as a “Must see live act” and subsequently saw the trio take the stage at Glastonbury, Lowlands in the Netherlands, and Europe's biggest festival, Sziget. During a five-week live tour across the USA, Kraak & Smaak performed at Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show on ABC television as well as a month-long Australia tour and step-ping on remix duties for Jamiroquai.
In the following years, the upward trend of Kraak & Smaak continued with the release of the albums 'Electric Hustle' (2011), 'Chrome Waves' (2013), ‘Juicy Fruit’ (2016) and ‘Pleasure Centre’ (2019), featuring artists such as Parcels, Romanthony, funk legend Lee Fields and Mayer Hawthorne.
Within this period, the trio also established themselves as a major live act with further career high-light shows such as Detroit Movement, Glastonbury and Serbia’s Exit Festival.
Last year, 2023, marked their 20th Anniversary as a producer trio, live band and as DJs, and was cel-ebrated with the release of the ‘Twenty’ compilation album and several special shows across The Netherlands and in Europe.
The present-day 6-piece live band showcases the best K&S has to offer, with a dynamic show that touches on every aspect of their music, from disco to house, and from soul and funk to indie elec-tronica, with a banging rock-n-roll attitude to top it all off.
Currently, the boys are working on new original singles and towards their 7th artist album.
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Orchestre International du Vetex
About
The Belgian-French cross-border Orchestre International du Vetex is ready for a busy 2024… ‘Vetex’ is not just a group of musicians, it is rather a collective of about 15 musicians from Flanders, Wallonia and the North of France. Over the past 20 years, Vetex has played more than 1000 shows on different street theatre or world music festivals all over the world. From the neighborhood parties in Wazemmes, Jemappes, Béziers or Stasegem to big festivals such as Couleur Café, la Fête de l'Huma, Dranouter or Esperanzah. From the squares in Sarajevo to the metro in Prague. From the Winter Olympics in Turin or Mons2015 to prestigious jazz festivals in Graz, Krakow, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Santander or Montreal… From wedding parties to funerals, from street theater to rock festivals…
After the release of their album 'Fifavela' in 2014 and their latest album ‘Plaza Mayor’ in 2021, the Orchestre International du Vetex continued playing more than 50 shows a year, despite the difficult situation due to COVID… “Until the outbreak of the COVID crisis in early 2020, it was actually obvious for us to travel around Europe with our music, doing all kinds of festivals, ” says Vetex composer Thomas Morzewski. “It was a bit different since 2020, so we tried also to focus more on collaborations with other artists ‘digitally’”.
For example, Vetex has been working very closely for a number of years with the Northern French women's band 'Panienki', which is very much inspired by Central European musical influences. Together they recorded the classic 'Tumbalalaika' at the end of 2019. And within the framework of the Creative Europe project '2020Troubadours', Vetex worked very closely with the Ukrainian-German musician Yuriy Gurzhy (Rotfront, ex-Russiandisko, …) and the French producer-multi-instrumentalist David Bourguignon, known for his years of collaboration with Manu Chao. “On our latest album Plaza Mayor you mainly hear the result of those collaborations, ” says Thomas Morzewski.
For example, one of the ‘leading’ songs on that album is 'Fly2Minsk'. The song wants to draw attention to the many political prisoners who have been unjustly imprisoned since the outbreak of the protests in Belarus and with the video clip Vetex raised money for the NGO 'Libereco', which is committed to more human rights in Belarus and Ukraine. In this way, Vetex once again shows that music and social engagement go hand in hand. "That song is actually the story of the civil movement in Belarus that strives for more human rights and democracy in their country in a non-violent way, " says musician Tomas Bulcaen. “It is unbelievable that there is not a little more attention and support for those people here in our regions, even though the Belarusian capital Minsk is closer to Brussels than, say, Malaga”.
Not only is Orchestre International du Vetex a very 'socially engaged' collective, their musical collaborations are always very interesting and inspiring on the artictic level. “Our social engagement of our music has always been as important as the musical quality itself, ” says French-Polish-Sicilian Vetex composer Thomas Morzewski. “We believe that as a musician you absolutely also have a responsibility to confront the public with the social reality in which we live: whether it concerns our own Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai border region, where some cultural differences are often magnified too much, or the situation in the Balkans, Ukraine or Belarus. Being silent as an artist is not an option”.
But as said, the Orchester International du Vetex mainly uses its music to convince people of the charm of 'crossing borders'. “Our music is a mixture of very diverse influences that we absorb in the various regions where we have already been, ” says Thomas Morzewski. That rich tradition of fanfare music from our own region, the influence of Balkan music and Central European rhythms, but also music from Southern Europe and Latin America”.
Find out more…
Kennedy Administration
About
Prepare to be captivated for life by the explosion of sound and unique grooves of Kennedy Administration!
It’s more than a band; it's a sensory experience, crafting modern music that weaves jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and pop into an irresistible tapestry. Let the rhythms move you, and every vibe resonate when their soulful sounds fill the air.
Based in Brooklyn/NYC, this dynamic project consisting of NYC’s top of the young next level musicians and is driven by the two masterminds: the charismatic powerhouse singer, KENNEDY, and her musical partner, keyboarder and producer extraordinaire ONDRE J, a longstanding collaborator of GREGORY PORTER.
Kennedy Administration isn't just making music; they're ushering in a new era of sonic brilliance crossing and fusing multiple genres together with Jazz and outstanding solos and vocals. Their joy and passion are contagious, promising an immersive journey into a world where every note is a celebration. You feel immediately the magnetism and infectious joy.
Since 2015, the quintet conquered stages in Europe, Eastern Europe, middle East and Asia, leaving an indelible mark at prestigious venues. They have played some of Europe’s and Asias biggest festivals (f.e. Java Jazz festival in Jakarta — a three-day affair with attendance totaling 115,000) and opened for Elton John in 2018 and many more,
A self-titled debut studio album arrived in 2017 and 2023 the album “Second Term” with guests: Gregoire Maret, Keyon Harold, Paul Bollenback, Farrah Boule, ILLspokin, Kyla Moschovic, and Cassondra James Kellam was released, both on Leopard records, both filled with original written material. The group is currently working on remixes and writing new material for a recording to come up in 2024/2025.
Watch any live performance by KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION and you’ll become a fan for life!
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