Brussels Jazz Orchestra is a Belgian jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 founded in 1993 by saxophonist and composer Frank Vaganée

Frank Vaganée

Frank Vaganée is a Belgian jazz saxophonist and composer. He has his own trio with Philippe Aerts recently replaced by Rosario Bonnacorso on the double bass, and Dré Pallemaerts on drums. He is co-leader of the Frank Vaganée/Mike Del Ferro Quartet and also is the artistic leader of the...

. They recorded their first CD in 1997. In a few years, this band has collaborated with some of the most famous composers/arrangers of the international jazz scene : Maria Schneider

Maria Schneider (musician)

Maria Schneider is an American arranger, composer, and big-band leader who has won multiple awards. In 2005, her album Concert in the Garden won a Grammy for "Best Large Ensemble Album"...

, Dave Liebman

Dave Liebman

Dave Liebman is an American saxophonist and flautist. In June 2010, he received a NEA Jazz Masters lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.-Biography:...

, Bill Holman

Bill Holman (musician)

Willis Leonard Holman , known also as Bill Holman, is an American composer/arranger, conductor, saxophonist, and songwriter working primarily in the jazz idiom....

, Kenny Werner

Kenny Werner

Kenny Werner is an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Kenny Werner is a world-class pianist and composer. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world....

, Bob Mintzer

Bob Mintzer

Bob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...

, Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler

Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC is a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. since the 1950s....

, and with guests like McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...

, Phil Woods

Phil Woods

Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...

, Tom Harrell

Tom Harrell

Tom Harrell is a renowned American post-bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and arranger.-Biography:Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, Illinois but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of five. He started playing trumpet at eight and within five years, started playing gigs with...

, Wallace Rooney, Norma Winstone

Norma Winstone

Norma Ann Winstone MBE is a British jazz singer and lyricist. In a career spanning over forty years she is best known for her wordless improvisations....

, Gianluigi Trovesi

Gianluigi Trovesi

thumb|200px|Gianluigi Trovesi in 2006.Gianluigi Trovesi is an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and composer.A native of Nembro near Bergamo in Lombardy, he studied harmony and counterpoint under Vittorio Fellegara. Since then he has been a major player in the Italian and European jazz scene....

, Philip Catherine

Philip Catherine

Philip Catherine is a Belgian jazz guitarist.-Biography:He was born in London from an English mother and Belgian father....

, Jeanne Lee

Jeanne Lee

Jeanne Lee was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers which included Gunter Hampel, Ran Blake, Carla Bley, Anthony Braxton, Marion Brown, and many...

, Toots Thielemans

Toots Thielemans

Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...

, Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...

, David Linx

David Linx

David Linx is a Belgian jazz singer, composer and songwriter.-As guest:*Diederik Wissels*Trio Bravo*Viktor Lazlo*Maurane*La Grande Formation*Aka Moon- Notes :...

, Gustavo Bergalli

Gustavo Bergalli

Gustavo Bergalli . He is an Argentine jazz trumpeter and bandleader.- Life :At the age of twelve he initiated his first lessons on trumpet and as an adolescent he began with Louis Armstrong as his leading idol in twenties-encouraged bands nominated for example, the Royal Garden Jazz Band and the...

, Richard Galliano

Richard Galliano

Richard Galliano is a French accordionist.-Biography:He was drawn to music at an early age, starting with the accordion at 4, influenced by his father Lucien, an accordionist originally from Italy, living in Nice.After a long and intense period of study Richard Galliano (born December 12, 1950,...

  etc... as well as Belgian composers/arrangers like Bert Joris

Bert Joris

Bert Joris is an internationally renowned jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger from Belgium. In 1996 he received the Golden Django.-References:*...

, Michel Herr

Michel Herr

Michel Herr is a Belgian pianist, composer and arranger active in the fields of jazz and film music.Since the seventies he has been active on the European Jazz scene. He appeared on more than 60 jazz albums....

, Erwin Vann, Jean Warland and leader Frank Vaganée

Frank Vaganée

Frank Vaganée is a Belgian jazz saxophonist and composer. He has his own trio with Philippe Aerts recently replaced by Rosario Bonnacorso on the double bass, and Dré Pallemaerts on drums. He is co-leader of the Frank Vaganée/Mike Del Ferro Quartet and also is the artistic leader of the...

 himself.

They played in numerous festivals in Europe and in the US, where the Downbeat jazz magazine placed them 8th in the critics poll in 2004.

Current line-up

• Trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  s : Serge Plume, Nico Schepers, Pierre Drevet and Jeroen Van Malderen;
• Trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  s : Marc Godfroid, Lode Mertens, Ben Fleerakkers / Frederik Heirman and Laurent Hendrick;
• Saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  s : Frank Vaganée
  Frank Vaganée
  Frank Vaganée is a Belgian jazz saxophonist and composer. He has his own trio with Philippe Aerts recently replaced by Rosario Bonnacorso on the double bass, and Dré Pallemaerts on drums. He is co-leader of the Frank Vaganée/Mike Del Ferro Quartet and also is the artistic leader of the...
  
  , Dieter Limbourg, Kurt Van Herck, Bart Defoort and Bo Van Der Werf;
• Acoustic bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
   : Jos Machtel;
• Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
   : Nathalie Loriers
  Nathalie Loriers
  Nathalie Loriers is a Belgian jazz pianist and composer.In 1991 Loriers formed her own quartet with Kurt Van Herck , Philippe Aerts and Mimi Verderame . She also has her own trio with Salvatore La Rocca and Hans Van Oosterhout...
  
  ;
• drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
   : Klaas Balijon.

Discography

• Live (1997)
• The September Sessions (1999)
• The Music Of Bert Joris (2002)
• Kenny Werner Plays His Music With The Brussels Jazz Orchestra (2003)
• Meeting Colours - with Philip Catherine (2005)
• Countermove (2006)
• Dangerous Liaison - Bert Joris with deFilharmonie (2006)
• Changing Faces - with David Linx (Oct. 2007)
• The Music of Michel Herr (Feb. 2008)
• JazzOlympics (2 tracks, including 1 with David Linx/Michel Herr) (July 2008)
• Ten Years Ago - with Richard Galliano (2008)