The top drummer Lander Gyselinck received the Flemish Culture Prize for Music 2015 from the Flemish Minister of Culture Sven Gatz. The prize consists of a sum of €10,000 and a bronze work of art.
The jury selected a talented young man (born in Ghent in 1987) with an unbelievable track record. For some time now Gyselinck has been a reference on the national and international jazz scene, not only as a musician but also as a composer. He very quickly developed his own style with which he made his way in avant-garde, experimental and improvisational jazz, from here to far beyond the borders of Belgium.
After studying jazz and pop music at the Conservatorium in Ghent and Brussels, he completed his knowledge with a year at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York. Lander Gyselinck has explored many horizons: with the four other musicians of the quintet STUFF. he plays a cross-genre groove, somewhere between hip-hop and more electronic jazz funk.
Gyselinck is active in a whole series of projects in different constellations. He was one of the founders of LABtrio and works with big names like Kris Defoort. He also regularly performs with BeraadGeslagen, Ragini Trio, Sandy, his New York band Howard Peach, Sinister Sister and his solo project Known Alone.
Lander Gyselinck is a much-appreciated performing musician. He already has a long list of performances under his belt, including: Jazz Middelheim, Vrijstaat O., de Beursschouwburg, White Cat, Brosella, Dour, Dinant Jazz Festival, Flagey, Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon, Bilzen Jazz Night, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK, Poland, Germany, New York… He has already received the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award, the SABAM Jong Talent prize and the Gent Jazz prize. Last year he was voted MIA 2015 musician of the year.
The jury report states: ‘This drummer, composer and jack of all trades is a unique, creative and rigorous musician who already stands out at such a young age and has huge growth potential. It’s impossible to pigeonhole him and he is the creative linchpin in various projects’.
‘Gyselinck has already drummed his way to the top at such a young age. I am proud that after the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award and the SABAM Youth and Music Award, I can also present the Flemish Culture Prize for Music to this young musician. I’m intrigued to find out what wonderful things he still has in store for us.’ adds Sven Gatz.
‘This is an honour that I didn't see coming’ responds the winner. ‘It’s an honour for which I must thank all the ambitious artists, musicians and music lovers with whom I have had the pleasure of working and exchanging ideas and from whom I will always continue to learn. I would like to thank you all for this. An artist never stands alone, but always stands for something else too, for a community. This is why I take the liberty of receiving this prize as pars pro toto, as a part taken for the whole, and applaud the fact that via this prize, the Flemish government is recognising that Belgian and thus Flemish art, particularly at an international level, is distinguished by its hunger for creativity, its critical and open mind and a preference for unique experimentation. In the future I also hope to inspire others to seek boundaries and break them down, and to keep an open mind.’
The prize was awarded at Flagey before Gyselinck’s concert with his trio Howard Peach. The other members are Chris Speed (tenor sax and clarinet) and Simon Jermyn (electric bass).
And finally a tip to share with you: Next spring Gyselinck will be performing at Vooruit in Ghent with his sister Femke, this time in reversed roles with her as a musician and him as a dancer.
The jury selected a talented young man (born in Ghent in 1987) with an unbelievable track record. For some time now Gyselinck has been a reference on the national and international jazz scene, not only as a musician but also as a composer. He very quickly developed his own style with which he made his way in avant-garde, experimental and improvisational jazz, from here to far beyond the borders of Belgium.
After studying jazz and pop music at the Conservatorium in Ghent and Brussels, he completed his knowledge with a year at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York. Lander Gyselinck has explored many horizons: with the four other musicians of the quintet STUFF. he plays a cross-genre groove, somewhere between hip-hop and more electronic jazz funk.
Gyselinck is active in a whole series of projects in different constellations. He was one of the founders of LABtrio and works with big names like Kris Defoort. He also regularly performs with BeraadGeslagen, Ragini Trio, Sandy, his New York band Howard Peach, Sinister Sister and his solo project Known Alone.
Lander Gyselinck is a much-appreciated performing musician. He already has a long list of performances under his belt, including: Jazz Middelheim, Vrijstaat O., de Beursschouwburg, White Cat, Brosella, Dour, Dinant Jazz Festival, Flagey, Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon, Bilzen Jazz Night, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the UK, Poland, Germany, New York… He has already received the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award, the SABAM Jong Talent prize and the Gent Jazz prize. Last year he was voted MIA 2015 musician of the year.
The jury report states: ‘This drummer, composer and jack of all trades is a unique, creative and rigorous musician who already stands out at such a young age and has huge growth potential. It’s impossible to pigeonhole him and he is the creative linchpin in various projects’.
‘Gyselinck has already drummed his way to the top at such a young age. I am proud that after the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award and the SABAM Youth and Music Award, I can also present the Flemish Culture Prize for Music to this young musician. I’m intrigued to find out what wonderful things he still has in store for us.’ adds Sven Gatz.
‘This is an honour that I didn't see coming’ responds the winner. ‘It’s an honour for which I must thank all the ambitious artists, musicians and music lovers with whom I have had the pleasure of working and exchanging ideas and from whom I will always continue to learn. I would like to thank you all for this. An artist never stands alone, but always stands for something else too, for a community. This is why I take the liberty of receiving this prize as pars pro toto, as a part taken for the whole, and applaud the fact that via this prize, the Flemish government is recognising that Belgian and thus Flemish art, particularly at an international level, is distinguished by its hunger for creativity, its critical and open mind and a preference for unique experimentation. In the future I also hope to inspire others to seek boundaries and break them down, and to keep an open mind.’
The prize was awarded at Flagey before Gyselinck’s concert with his trio Howard Peach. The other members are Chris Speed (tenor sax and clarinet) and Simon Jermyn (electric bass).
And finally a tip to share with you: Next spring Gyselinck will be performing at Vooruit in Ghent with his sister Femke, this time in reversed roles with her as a musician and him as a dancer.
