We can’t celebrate forty years of Radio Centraal without some cutting edge improvised music. For this special occasion Radio Centraal’s Freakscene i.c.w. Sound in Motion/Oorstof presents a programme that unites past and present with: a concert of the new generation of improvisors with Farida Amadou, Hanne De Backer, Audrey Lauro and Stan Maris; a surprising dive into the history of free music with a brand new documentary by Philippe Cortens titled Fred Van Hove: An Improvised Life – Van Hove is one of the founding fathers of European improvised music and organiser of the legendary Free Music Festival always supported and broadcast by Radio Centraal; and the presentation of Front To Front a brand new lp for Dropa Disc by Van Hove and Peter Brötzmann recorded, and broadcast live by Centraal,  at the Summer Bummer Festival in 2019.

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FRED VAN HOVE: AN IMPROVISED LIFE – (BE / 2020 / Philippe Cortens / 68’)

Pianist and composer Fred Van Hove (°1937) was involved in the Big Bang of European free improvisation (Machine Gun by the Peter Brötzmann Octet), but also became one of Europe’s finest and most underestimated improvisers. Mostly known for his 70’s trio with Brötzmann and Han Bennink, Van Hove’s trajectory over the past 4 decades has been one of the brilliant, but unsung stories of the music. How brilliant this trajectory exactly was will become even more clear in the brand new documentary Fred Van Hove: An Improvised Life, shot by director Philippe Cortens – also check Juul’s Ears and Jak Sels – commissioned by Studiecentrum Vlaamse Muziek.

“To summerize a career spanning more than sixty years in a documentary was like trying to squeeze apple juice from an orange. So Fred Van Hove: An Improvised Life turned out more like a portait – or at least an attempt at – of a strong-minded musician that always has and still is going against the grain, no matter what. Peter Brötzmann, Sven-Åke Johansson, André Goudbeek, Walter Hus, Cel Overberghe, Bram Van Camp, Els Vandeweyer, Jan Michiels, Rik Hancké, Wim Opbrouck, Luk Perceval and, last but not least, Mie Van Cakenberghe wholeheartedly confirm Van Hove’s legendary status on camera. His influence on free improvised music and free jazz is invaluable and acknowledge by musicians and publice world wide. Long live Fred Van Hove ! Philippe Cortens

A portrait by Philippe Cortens commissioned by Studiecentrum Vlaamse Muziek.
With the relentless support of Jan Dewilde and Sound in Motion.

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FARIDA AMADOU – HANNE DE BACKER – AUDREY LAURO – STAN MARIS

After the first successful collaboration between Ken Vandermarks Marker and the Belgian players Farida Amadou (el. bass), Hanne De Backer (baritone sax), Audrey Lauro (alto sax) and Stan Maris (accordion) all plans for new encounters where suspended until further notice due to Covid-19. But Amadou, De Backer, Lauro en Maris showed us already earlier at the Citadelic Festival, that their quartet is a solid unit in its own right.

Amadou, Maris, De Backer and Lauro are regular guests at the Oorstof concert series and at previous Summer Bummer Festivals. Amadou shared the stage with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Steve Noble, Peter Brötzmann, Rodrigo Amado and Tom Malmendier; De Backer toured with Agnes Hvizdalek, Raphael Malfliet and Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø as g a b b r o and collaborated with Paal Nilssen-Love, Angel Bat Dawid, Signe Emmeluth and The Ex; Lauro made her mark on stage with musicians like Mette Rasmussen, Anna Högberg, Pak Yan Lau, Christine Abdelnour, Yuko Oshima, Ada Rave, Adam Cadell and Jasper Stadhouders; Maris was one of the revelations of the Summer Bummer festival in 2018 and stood out at the Visitations event in 2019.

With The Support Of: