The Visitations caravan stops at KAAP to present a double bill combining renowned and up-and-coming jazz and free jazz musicians from Europe and the United States. Spectral, consisting of three exceptional saxophone and brass players (Dave Rempis, Larry Ochs and Darren Johston), tours Europe for the first time in its 12-year history. The trio of Marta Warelis, Nicolas Chkifi and Hugo Antunes is a brand new formation resulting out of this Visitations residency. In KAAP they play one of their first concerts ever.

SPECTRAL: DAVE REMPIS – LARRY OCHS – DARREN JOHNSTON

In the fall of 2011, Dave Rempis visited some like-minded people within the Bay Area improv scene on the West Coast. That led to a concert with trumpeter Darren Johnston, with whom he had played several times in Chicago and the great saxophonist Larry Ochs of the legendary ROVA Saxophone Quartet. From the first few notes, that initial meeting flowed comfortably, yet in totally unexpected ways, with all three making logical structural decisions that gave their improvisations the feel of through-composed pieces. Over the years they have further developed this language, which they came to call invisible architecture, on the albums ‘Spectral’, ‘Neutral Nation’ and ‘Empty Castles’.

MARTA WARELIS – NICOLAS CHKIFI – HUGO ANTUNES

The Polish pianist and Amsterdam resident Marta Warelis is a relative newcomer to the European jazz and improvisation scene. In span of just a handful of years, she has played and recorded with the likes of Dave Douglas, Ig Henneman, Andy Moor, Carlos Zingaro and John Dikeman. Her recent solo album on Relative Pitch records, on which she displays her enormous musical range, was internationally acclaimed. The Brussels drummer Nicolas Chkifi is also active on many fronts and has already made himself known with projects such as Fnussjen, Fenna and Supernova in which he shows himself as a rhythmic monster while he doesn’t shy away from ritualistic and coloristic aspects. Portuguese bassist Hugo Antunes was part of groups and projects with artists like Nate Wooley, Chris Corsano, Seppe Gebruers and Paul Lovens. He has recorded and toured extensively with Rafael Toral’s Space Quartet (Oorsof 2019) and resides, after a lengthy hiatus, once again in Brussels. Just a few days before this concert Warelis, Chkifi and Antunes will meet for the first time during the first Visitations residency of 2023 at Het Bos in Antwerp.