Abel Ghekiere - In De Verte, Dit Uitzicht (Rotkat) [Quietly Experimental]

*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's November 9th Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***

I’m not quite sure how I stumbled across Abel Ghekiere, but this multi-instrumentalist from Belgium is quietly doing a great job fusing jazz, folk and field recordings together into meandering soundscapes with just enough form to appeal to the faint of musical heart, whilst appeasing the musically adventurous; now there’s a thing.

On a quick flip through his debut melts his jazz chops and fondness for classical forms, and sees hims playing clarinet, guitar, piano and cello no less, and could loosely be described as rumbling ambient jazz. I’ll be sinking into it properly soon that’s for sure.

In De Verte, Dit Uitzicht on the other hand is a calmer, folk leaning affair with meandering arrangements that have no discernible middle or end and which could potentially go on for days if sleep deprivation wasn’t an issue. They effortlessly combine old time Americana, spiritual jazz, lo-fi field recordings, spoken words and ASMR whispering into good natured, oddball, electroacoustic soundscapes, and just for good measure he even slips into intimate, more familiar singer songwriter mode near the end.

Apparently the music was recorded on Ghekiere's wanderings and with different people, but with most parts written and played by Ghekiere himself. Guest spots came from from Orlan Ghekiere on drums, Vitja Pauwels' guitar, Elia Kruithof and his cello, Leo Adamov on violin, Nicolas Rombauts on bass, some additional vocals by Mathilde Luijten as well as Simon Mitxelena on saxophone, drums and screaming, although the liner notes neglect to say if he survived or not.

It’s a curious, comforting listen and highly recommended.

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Playlist Companion

Find Ghekiere in the Slow Folk Playlist.