©
Anton Coene
Orlando
Belgian saxophonist Toine Thys is one of the pillars of Belgian jazz. With his quartet ORLANDO he won the prize for best Belgian jazz album in 2021, and is a very busy musician as a band leader, sideman and teacher. On his latest album 'Betterland'. He is accompanied by Maxime Sanchez on piano, Florent Nisse on double bass and Teun Verbruggen on drums.
Orlando is here in a new version, with a new drummer and a music focused on ensemble playing. Rather than cascades of notes and fireworks, sound and space are explored here. Some tracks are serious and solemn, while others are imbued with joy and hope. Toine Thys also uses electronics to sample his saxophone, superimpose it and process it over several tracks, a way of opening up the music to wider spaces.
Betterlands is a concept album, where the artists imagine another world:
"Betterlands: There are many ways to make our world a better place.
Rethinking our priorities, reimagining our societies: we deeply need a fairer world, where education - accessible to all - is of the highest quality, and where people stand together in suffering.
It should be a world where consideration for others is paramount.
A positive contribution to our environment, education, mutual understanding and collaboration would then become the cornerstones of this fairer ideal city. »