Name: Mazzel
Start: 2024-11-22T20:30:00+01:00
Location: 27Bflat Jazz & Blues - Restaurant

Koen Nys - Tenor Saxopphone
Bram Weijters - Piano, Wurlitzer, Moog Synthesizer
Lionel Beuvens - Drums
Bio’s Band Members:
Koen Nys
Born in 1965 in Schriek, near Heist-op-den Berg (Belgium), Koen Nys started studying music at the local music academy at the age of 14, also thanks to the support and encouragement of his brother. He developed a genuine passion for jazz attending international concerts at the ‘Hnita Hoeve’. In 1982 he started studying at the then newly created Jazz Studio, in Antwerp (Belgium), for two years, where he attended private classes by John Ruocco. His fellow students were Erwin Vann, Hendrik Braeckman, Piet Verbist, Frank Vaganee and others. He also took part in the Jazz Workshops in Dworp and attended classes by Joe Lovano.
Koen left Belgium and headed for Montréal in 1984 where he studied at the McGill University and obtained the degree in ‘Jazz Performance’. After his studies at the McGill University he played with various bands in Montréal. Koen performed with his own quintet at ‘Le festival International de Jazz de Montréal’ in 1992.
During his studies he attended workshops by amongst others, Steve Grossman, Bob Mover, Barry Harris (one week-workshop). He also took lessons with Fred Henke, who was the pianist in Steve Grossman’s band at that time. He played in several jazz bands with his fellow students, with Ron Seguin, also bass player in Steve Grossman’s band. He played in Latin formations and was co-leader of the the Latin band called ‘Guayaba'.
One year later he exchanged Montréal for Tokyo, Japan, where he resided for two years, both performing with various bands and teaching. He met bass player Jesse Murphy and they played gigs together. Moreover he also played with a French band
featuring Patrick Nugier and they ended up recording an album together ‘Musette? Chouette!!”. In the summer of 1995, he participated in the Jazz Workshop in Banff, Canada, and had the opportunity at this venue to work together with Kenny Wheeler and Joe Labarbera.
Afterwards, Koen moved to New York, where he studied with George Garzone and fully enjoyed the New York Jazz Scene. He started his first quartet with the Canadian guitar player Mike Rud, bass player Steve Doyle and the Irish drummer Darren Beckett and recorded his first CD entitled ‘CHIMBE’ whilst on tour in the States. He jammed with Jesse Murphy, Jorge Rossy and Michael Kanan with whom he also did some gigs.
He briefly returned to Montréal; performed at several ‘hotel-gigs’ in the Arabic Emirates (together with Ron Seguin) and Korea (with 7-string guitar player Jon Gearey) and finally settled again in Belgium.
Back home he performed with ‘The Brussels Jazz Orchestra’ and worked together with – amongst others - Dré Pallemaerts, Felix Simtaine, Kurt Van Herck, Lieven Venken and Piet Verbist performing in jazz clubs mostly in Antwerp and Brussels. As from October 2001, Koen teaches at the Jazz Studio in Antwerp and at several music academies in Belgium (Tongeren, Heist-op-den-Berg and Lennik). In 2003, Koen was invited as guest musician for the debut CD of Chris Mentens, ‘Jazz Van’. He was part of the hip band ‘Milleniums’, recording their first CD in 2004, followed by the second one in 2009. In 2011, he records ‘Turtle Music' with his Koen Nys Quintet and performs with his own bands or as a freelance musician in clubs, in the company of - amongst others - Bram Weijters, Marek Patrman, Manolo Cabras, Ewout Pierreux and Lionel Beuvens.
Since a few years he has been working on the MAZZLE project, involving Bram Weijters on keyboard and Lionel Beuvens on drums, resulting in the first album ‘Genetic Modified Art - GMA’.
Bram Weijters
Eight years old, Bram started music courses at the music school in his birth town, attending piano and percussion classes. Besides this classical training, he played drums in several alternative rock bands as a teenager and was experimenting with tape recorders and electronic circuits. This is how he picked up classical, rock and electronic influences, which still form the basis of his open approach to music.
Eighteen years old, he was admitted to the Antwerp Conservatory and after graduating for jazz piano in Antwerp he went to the Brussels Conservatory, where he graduated in 2005 for jazz composition and arranging.
Besides the faculty at those conservatories Bram took lessons and attended masterclasses a.o. from Kenny Werner, Anthony Braxton, Gary Peacock, Mark Turner, Dave Liebman, Bill Carrotters and plenty of others.
During the years Bram participated in a wide range of projects. He played in several jazz formations but has a wide scope. He performed as well with people from the Belgian hip hop scene, singer-songwriters and alternative bands. But most of his time and dedication go to a lot of different jazz/impro-projects: his own Bram Weijters trio and Quartet , Hamster Axis of the One-Click Panther, Mazzle, Zygomatik, Jelle Van Giel Group, ...
With these different projects he performed in clubs, on festivals as well as in concert halls in Belgium as well as abroad. He also composes and writes arrangements for a lot of these bands
Lionel Beuvens
Lionel Beuvens (°1981) started playing drums at young age. At the age of 12, he followed classes at the music academy where he was introduced to jazz music by Antoine Cirri and Nathalie Loriers.
He participated to several summer trainings where he was fortunate to meet Billy Hart.
In 2004 he was awarded the master diploma at the “Koninklijk Conservatorium” (Brussels, Belgium) and started taking classes both at the Lemmens Institute (Dré Pallemaerts and Pierre Van
Dormael) as well as at the “Conservatorium” in Den Haag (The Netherlands) with Eric Ineke. He is a member of several bands: Fabrice Alleman 4tet , Peter Hertmans quartet, Frank Vaganée trio+zefiro torna, Erik Bogaert Kvartett...
In addition he has his own band, the Lionel Beuvens 4tet and contributed to several CDs (Chroma, Alien Bitesize, Après un rêve, Sabin Todorov trio, Peter Hertmans quartet, Nicolas Kummert Voices, Fabrice Alleman...).