Citadelic festival 2023 

MAY 27 - 21H                    MAIN STAGE

   Ben Sluijs Quartet (BE/FR)
            lyrical and poetic jazz

In his quartet, which is regarded as one of the strongest formations of recent years (Klara Prize 2019), Ben Sluijs is reinforced by some of the most important figures from the Belgian jazz scene: superdrummer Dré Pallemaerts and the still young piano wizzard Bram De Looze. In short, a unique combination of perfectly complementary musicians.
You can expect poetic, lyrical and sometimes mysterious and meditative jazz. But above all adventurous music that is partly detached from scores and conventions that also falls back on strong melodic patterns, performed in an extremely controlled way.

"Sluijs compositions suggest his personal perspective of the American post-bop legacy, transformed into the more peaceful West European sceneries. His spiritual vein is highlighted in his touching homage to the late Yusef Lateef, «Song for Yusef», and the exotic and meditative «Mali», sounding like homage to other sonic explorers as Alice Coltrane and Don Cherry. «Miles Behind» offers a leisured swinging mode and «Cell Mates» pushes this rhythmic mode even further . On both pieces Sluijs alto sax solo reference John Coltrane spiraling attacks. The dreamy, emotional ballads «Air Castles» and «Ice Chrystal» even come close to the impressionist-melancholic territories of the ECM school. Beautiful gem."
Eyal Hareuveni on Salt Peanuts.eu december 2018

Ben Sluijs - alto saxophone and flutes
Bram De Looze - piano
Brice Soniano - double bass
Dré Pallemaerts - drums

OTHER CONCERTS MAY 27

with the marvelous support of De Vlaamse Gemeenschap and de Stad Gent