Fabrizio Cassol (saxophone) | Michel Hatzigeorgiou (el. bass) | Stéphane Galland (drums) | Robin Eubanks (trombone) | Wajdi Riahi (piano)

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Whilst the trio Aka Moon found their full moon in the heart of the Central African forest with the Aka Pygmies, John Coltrane has always been their guiding star; a breath of inspiration where boldness and renewal rub shoulders with tradition, so that music remains a celebration and the concert transforms into a ritual: a space to discover what we do not yet know.

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Today, the group’s triangular geometry paves the way for the two giant planets that are Robin Eubanks and Wajdi Riahi; one, nourished by the strength of his immense history, very close to the Coltrane influence (with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Ravi Coltrane…); the other, carried by his African roots and his insatiable thirst to explore ever further the very essence of this art.

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The story of Aka Moon has unfolded over more than thirty intense years like a tree with infinite branches; transmission has never ceased to be the prolific lifeblood of ideas, a place where memories synchronise and creative gestures from multiple sources are invoked.

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Coltrane reminds us, among other things, that art is an act of absolute honesty in which one accepts, out of love, to lose what one has acquired through reason.

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Beyond the conventional ‘tribute to…’, this gathering takes shape as a constellation that belongs neither here nor elsewhere; an experience of life and vitality that will undoubtedly benefit from the virtual ‘Mirror Drumming’ between Stéphane Galland and Elvin Jones.

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Since their debut in 1992, it has been hard to imagine the Belgian and European jazz scene without the innovative Aka Moon. Their refreshing approach to jazz gives the trio a highly distinctive sound. Since their first encounter with the Aka Pygmies in 1992, Aka Moon’s focus has shifted towards various different African, Indian, Maghrebian, Cuban, Arab, Afro-American and European traditions.