Belgian jazz is alive! At JazzLab, we get proof of it every day, because we're right in the middle of it. As a lever for the professional Belgian jazz scene, we take up a central role, with a three-part approach. Together, these three contain both our core and our ambition. Briefly: JazzLab aims to be a platform for Belgian jazz, through the organisation of concert tours, as a production hub for new jazz creations and as a network organisation bringing different players together. We do this both on a national and international level.
'Belgian jazz on tour'
From the beginning, it was our ambition to give the Belgian jazz its rightful place in a broad network of professional stages. Our partners range from small cultural centers to big city venues. Each season, JazzLab organises 7-8 tours in Flanders and Brussels that represent the best of contemporary Belgian jazz. The tours consistently offer a combination of emerging talents, new creations and interesting new work by seasoned musicians to a broader audience. From sparkling experiments to that swingin' snap of the finger, it's all there in a JazzLab year.
With this annual cross section, we resolutely aim for quality and diversity, digging deeper than superficial trends, make visible what's really going on being developed as we speak. Having done this for three decades, we have garnered an extensive and durable network. Our artists perform in dedicated venues with quality infrastructures and attentive audiences. As such, music can fully blossom. Yesterday's youngsters are today's cornerstones. And today's talents, we'll see again tomorrow.
Production hub for new jazz creations
JazzLab increasingly focused its attention on (co-)producing, helping musicians with realising their ambitious projects. For this, we can rely as well on our relations with partners that also aim to bring the best Belgian jazz to the stages. With JazzLab Impuls, we realise a new project each season in cooperation with 8 committed partners, from the first planted seed to the actual tour. We apply this method also on a more general level: each season, JazzLab presents a few projects that it (co-)produced.
Networking and connecting
The diffusion and promotion of Belgian jazz takes place with concert tours, but also through the organisation of network events. JazzLab presents each season to programmers during a networking event that is co-organised by VI.BE and Cult! Concering international promotion, the showase festival Belgian Jazz Meeting, since 2023 continued as Belgium Booms, has become an important Euopean event for professionals, offering an excellent opportunity to bands with international ambition.
Besides that, there are also Criss Cross Europe (with partners in France, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Estonia, Denmark, Luxemburg and Scotland) and the recently founded Stepping Stone and Constellation, that offer personalised, career-oriented guidance for musicians. The latter project quickly became part of a select set of structurally supported projects of the EJN (Europe Jazz Network, the foremost network for the genre in Europe).
In September of 2024, JazzLab together with Ha Concerts, VI.BE and Music Center De Bijloke will be a co-host for the 10th European Jazz Conference, a three-day event that brings representatives of all member organisations to Ghent. Besides networking moments, keynotes and panel discussions on contemporary issues, the host city and all the involved partners and venues also get the opportunity to shine. Ghent will buzz with jazz!