Witness the unique four hands piano project that Pak Yan Lau (piano), Giovanni Di Domenico (piano) and Darin Gray (bass) – joined by drummer Frank Rosaly – have been planning for more than a decade, together with a solo set by legendary New York guitarist Alan Licht and a hot young quartet with drummer Lukas Jouck, guitarist Christoph Götzen, saxophonist Charel Maes and bassist Ruben Verbeeck. A triple bill in coöperation with De Studio.

FOUR ON THREE:
Pak Yan Lau – Giovanni Di Domenico – Darin Gray – Frank Rosaly

After a corona delay of almost three years, the stars are finally aligned for the four hands piano project that Italian pianist Giovanni Di Domenico, Belgian pianist/sound artist Pak Yan Lau and American bassist Darin Gray have been planning for over a decade. They met in 2011 during a Japanimprov event at Kunstencentrum BELGIE in Hasselt and they soon toyed with the idea of doing something original within a ‘quatre mains’ setting, which is very rare in the context of a piano trio. Lau and Di Domenico want to rediscover the grand piano this way, inside and out, in the special company of Gray on double bass and the versatile Puerto Rican drummer Frank Rosaly.

The Belgian Pak Yan Lau lives in Brussels and is active as a sound artist and improviser in groups such as Going and lauroshilau. Her solo concerts and releases have been praised internationally.

Italian Pianist Giovanni Di Domenico has been living in Brussels for quite some time. He regularly collaborates with musicians such as Jim O’Rourke and Akira Sakata. Pangrams, a beautiful duo record of him with accordionist Kalle Moberg will soon be released on Dropa Disc.

American bassist Darin Gray is active in various alternative and experimental niches. He was part of Dazzling Killmen and has worked with Loren Mazzacane Conners, Chris Corsano (Chikamorachi) and Glenn Kotche (On Fillmore).

Frank Rosaly  is one of the most renowned drummers in the international jazz and improv scene. He was a mainstay of the improvised music and jazz scene of Chicago and relocated to Amsterdam in 2016. He contributed to some 150 releases, ranging from Dave Rempis and Nicole Mitchell to Thurston Moore and Jaap Blonk.

ALAN LICHT

Guitarist Alan Licht‘s discography reads like a little music history of New York since the late eighties: punk, rock, minimalism, free improvisation and experimentation, legendary venues such as CBGB’s and Tonic (where he was programmer for a long time), bands like Love Child , The Blue Humans, Text of Light, Run On and collaborations with the likes of Lee Ranaldo, Loren Mazzacane Connors and Jim O’Rourke. On top of that is an impressive solo career, with a dozen solo albums on which he always came up with something new. Last year he even released a cover album on which Licht interprets some well-known songs from the perspective of the American primitive guitar style. But he uses feedback and distortion or a drawn-out repetitive composition just as well. With Licht you never know, only that you’ll be in for a treat.

STRANGE MEETING:
LUKAS JOUCK – CHRISTOPHE GÖTZEN – CHAREL MAES – RUBEN VERBEECK

During their studies, drummer Lukas Jouck, guitarist Christoph Götzen and saxophonist Charel Maes discovered a shared interest in free improvisation and other non-conforming music styles. In January 2023 their search led to a curated biweekly concert series at Witzli Poetzli under the banner ‘Strange Meetings’ – initiated by Klankhaven in order to support young musicians playing adventurous music. Given carte blanche they invite like-minded young souls to offer a diverse program of challenging music that is rarely heard on stages in Antwerp. The first performance of that series – with Ruben Verbeeck on double bass – was an immediate hit, a memorable set that reverberated for a long time. With this quartet they already recorded, what might become their first album, at the old radio studios of the conservatory of Antwerp under the auspices of Sound in Motion.