Le Chat-Pitre

The Chat-pitre is a good old neighbourhood bistro, as there are fewer and fewer of them in Brussels. It is hidden at the end of the rue du Bailli, behind the parvis de la Trinité church, at the corner of the rue de l'Aqueduc and the rue du Tabellion. The place seems anachronistic in this rather trendy and posh neighbourhood. Here, nothing is flashy, nothing is luxurious, nothing is really done to lure the customer. It's a real "stamcafe", with its green plants in the window, its wooden tables, its statuettes of jazzmen, its tender photos of friends on the wall and its innumerable beer cartons on which customers have drawn cats of all shapes and sizes, pinned behind the bar. Nearly seven years ago, Robert took over this bistro that had a bad reputation and cleaned it up with music. First with blues and rock, then quickly with jazz. Since then, every Wednesday from 7pm onwards, jazz concerts are often followed by a jam that goes on until the early hours of the morning. The Chat-pitre has become the meeting point of the young generation of jazzmen who find here all the freedom to express themselves. The welcome is very friendly, the prices are very democratic and the concerts are free. We push ourselves a little to see the group placed in a corner of the room and discover the young musicians, ready to take on the current jazz. The place is not very big, but the acoustics are excellent and above all natural. Here, Jordi Grognard, Alex Tripodi, Renaud Dardenne, David De Vrieze, Mathieu De Wit, Cédric Favrese and others have made their mark, have sought, tried and invented. Then they crossed their ideas with Fred Delplancq, Alexandre Cavalière, Tcha Limberger and Stéphane Mercier. You can hear all kinds of jazz, from gypsy to fusion, from very contemporary to hard-bop... everything is possible and everyone is welcome. The Chat-pitre is a warm place that contributes, in its own way, to keeping jazz and its spirit alive. And for that alone, it's worth the diversions.

(Jacques Prouvost, Jazz In Belgium #72, October 2010)