Roeland Celis Quintet
Somewhat by accident I ended up at the last day of the 44th edition of JAZZBOZ, and boy am I glad I did. After digging through some crates at the vinyl market, it was time to head into the ‘Markiezenhof’, dubbed the ‘city palace’ of Bergen op Zoom, for live jazz. The Roeland Celis Quintet, a group of five young but impressive musicians led by guitarist Roeland Celis, gave an impressive performance.
The music spans a large range. At points the quintet comes together to provide an impressive yet rhytmic wall of sound, thrust forward by drummer Gert-Jan Dreessen’s rolling rhytms and firmly underlined by Celis’ dark metal-inspired grooves. At other points, the band quiets down to play vulnerable, sensitive pieces that shows their mastery of their instruments.
Karel Cuelenaere is a gifted pianist, it’s a joy to see him playing. At points though the sound of the piano was overwhelmed by the other instruments, despite a PA set up to amplify Cuelenaere’s playing. Sadly, no audio technician was anywhere near. I think a big oversight of the organisation, this group and its audience deserves better.
What struck me was the rich emotional content of the material. The raw dark sound of Celis’ guitar emphasized by Sylvain Debaisieux’ wild sax, the melodic interplay between Cuelenaere’s piano and Cyrille Obermüller’s bass.
Despite the lack of an audio technician, this was an impressive and intimate concert. I do hope they will record and release a lot of music in the near future. But more than that, I’ll be keeping an eye out for future performances!
In the mean time, there are four tracks available for free listening on soundcloud, as well as at least two videos (here and here) on youtube that are definitely worth listening to.
The Roeland Celis quintet are:
- Roeland Celis – Guitar & Composition
- Sylvain Debaisieux – Saxophone
- Karel Cuelenaere – Piano
- Cyrille Obermüller – Double Bass
- Gert-Jan Dreessen – Drums
