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Five easy pieces - Belgian (?) music - Part I

Wed, 07/08/2009 - 00:31 — Geert

Herwig suggested to approach Belgian or Flemish identity (whatever that means, see my previous post) from a musical perspective. Since I used to play music a considerable amount of time ago (recorder, guitar and flute), I will try to find some clues. Please feel free to comment.

1. Django Reinhardt - 'Minor Swing'

Django Reinhardt was born in Liberchies, Belgium. So that would make him a Belgian. His parents were gipsies (Sinti) and the group travelled through France, Corsica and North-Africa. Django grew up in a trailer camp near Paris and spent most of his life in France. He also went to the US and played with Duke Elington. He died in France.
So was he Belgian? Most likely he considered himself primarely a gipsy, but nevertheless, on acount of his place of birth he is claimed as being Belgian. Anyway, his music and the way he played the guitar had a major influence on quite a number of people. But is he a Belgian?

2. Toots Thielemans - 'Bluesette'

Toots Thielemans was influenced by, among others, Django Reinhardt. I saw him at Jazz Middelheim. The man is a classic and whether you like his music or not, you can hardly rule him out when talking about Belgian (jazz) music. Born and grown up in the old quarter of Brussels (the Marolles), still reminiscing over that part of his life frequently in interviews, I suppose we can surely call him a Belgian.
On the other hand, in 1952 he emigrated to the US and has lived there ever since. So is he a still Belgian?

3. Philip Catherine - 'Stella by Starlight'

Another Belgian musician who considers Django Reinhardt as a major influence is Philip Catherine. Charles Mingus called him the 'Young Django'. In the video he playes with the late Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen. I saw Philip Catherine at Jazz Middelheim as well, a couple of times, one time playing with Toots Thielemans. 
Philip Catherine was born to a Belgian father and an English mother. He was born in London in 1942 and the family lived there during World War II. They went back to Brussels after the war. He probably is a Belgian. Or, since he was born abroad, is he?

4. Nathalie Loriers - 'Silent Spring'

Actually I know next to nothing about Nathalie Loriers, except that she was a surprise and a revelation on a Jazz Middelheim edition in the early nineties. She spent her own pay for playing on the festival on hiring a double bass player to enhance her sound. I heard from her from time to time on the radio and she still seems to make good music.
Since she was born in Namur, she is Belgian. Hurray! Found one. But she's a Walloon! So probably some Flemish nationalists won't agree.

5. Chris Mentens

Chris Mentens is the baldy one with his spectacles on top of his head, playing the double bass. Well, Chris is really, really Belgian and really, really Flemish. Found a genuine one at last!
I know that he is because we met in secondary school and we played in several bands together. We also listened a lot to Frank Zappa, an influence you can still hear from time to time in his music. Chris used to have shoulderlong hair and in those days he wore his spectacles (you know, the John Lennon model) on his nose.
I was better at playing guitar, so Chris bought himself a bass. Now he is one of the leading Belgian double bass players. How hard can that be: Since there aren't many of those around, that's quite an easy goal to achieve.
By the way, I saw him playing at Jazz Middelheim as well. Afterwards we got rather drunk.

On the other hand, jazz is an international language. So I suppose all this Belgian-Flemish-Walloon stuff is rather pointless.

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