Name: g a b b r o
Start: 2024-11-06T09:00:00+02:00
Location: De Ruimte

g a b b r o is a conglomerate of sounds, musicians and places led by Belgian saxophonist Hanne De Backer. The aim of each production of g a b b r o is to confront improvised music with unexpected locations and explore the impact of these locations and its inhabitants on the music itself. In March 2021, Hanne invited Belgian pianist Andreas Bral and Brooklyn-based drummer Raf Vertessen to join her for a walk along the Belgian coastline together with a camel and a filmcrew. The goal was to register this coastline by recording the musical impressions of the trio alongside the road. Everyday improvised sets were played and recorded on different locations in- and outdoors, starting at the French border and ending five days later at the border with the Netherlands. Armed with backpacks, winter coats, hats and an inseparable wagon, the three musicians, together with their camel and crew, travelled over empty beaches, mist-shrouded dikes and through dunes, accompanied only by the murmur of the North Sea and the whooshing of a biting wind.
The result of the adventure was captured in ‘As We Walk’, a black and white musical documentary with the music of the trio and the Belgian coastline as the main characters. The movie was released in March ’23 together with the album of the trio ‘The Moon Appears When The Water Is Stil’ ( g a b b r o records 2023). Since then the trio has been touring though Europe, building a strong live-reputation and persisting on pushing and supporting each other into new sounds and territories.
Hanne De Backer: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, flutes
Andreas Bral: Indian harmonium, piano
Raf Vertessen: drums
Photo: © Laurent Orseau