©
Bernard Vanden Eynde
Michel Vrydag
- Instruments : Electric bass, Writing, composition, arrangements, Composer, Arranger, Bass, Bass guitar, Acoustic bass guitar, Improviser
- Date of birth : Bruxelles
« Eclectic and full of surprises » is something that can describe the belgian bass player and composer Michel Vrydag. Based in Brussels, he plays mainly jazz and folk music and even rock and metal. Music has taken him all over the world : Europe, America, Asia and Africa.
Active on the Jazzscene as a sideman, he leads and composes for his own trio « Mapping Roots » (Bram Weijters on piano and Daniel Jonkers on the drums). We have heard him on various Jazz projects and encounters with people like Bram Weijters, Bo Vanderwerf, Fabian Fiorini, Stéphane Mercier, Xavier Roge, Antoine Pierre, Bruno Grollet, Laurent Mercier, Bruno Castellucci, Pierre Bernard, Sabin Todorov, Lionnel Beuvens, Casimir Liberski, Tutu Poane, Toni Mora, Paolo Loveri, Dimitri Delvaux, Vincent Thékal, Alex Koo, Bert Cools, Stijn Cools, Eerik Bogaerts, Kris Duerinckx and most of the Belgian musicians of his generation.
Besides his activities on the Jazzscene, he also tours and writes music with the Louvat Bros, a Folk & World music group with three albums recorded to date and winner of the Liz Meyer award for the most innovative European Bluegrass Band in 2012. He also participates in South American and African music projects (some with Josaphat Hounnou – drummer of Lionel Loueke) and plays with Balakumar Paralinangam, the highly regarded percussion player of Carnatic music (South India and Sri-Lanka). He is also active on the Rock and Metal scene. In 2013, He toured with Paul Di’Anno the original singer of the legendary Iron Maiden on his Farewell tour in France. He also plays with rock band Z-Band and has recorded two albums with them.
He has toured in Belgium, across Europe (Luxembourg, Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, United Kingdom…), several times in Canada & United States as well as in Koweit or India where he shared scenes with musicians from Kashmir, Rajasthan, West-Bengal and Siberia. Hundreds of wonderful concerts, of human experiences that opened his musical and personal horizon.
« Geboren en getogen Brusselaar, maar door en dankzij de muziek intussen geëvolueerd tot een geweldige wereldburger. Dat is, héél in het kort, hoe ik de fantastische jazzbassist Michel Vrydag zou durven voorstellen. » Dani Heyvaert - RootsTime [ Born and bred in Brussels, but thanks to music he has evolved into a great world citizen. That, very briefly, is how I would like to introduce the fantastic jazz bass player Michel Vrydag. ]
« De Brusselse basgitarist Michel Vrydag heeft zich in 2021 flink ingespannen om met zijn project, trio Mapping Roots, een dijk van een album neer te zetten. Het is een dubbel-cd geworden waarvan geen minuut verveelt. » Robin Arends - Jazz Halo jan 2022. [ The Brussels bass guitarist Michel Vrydag has put a lot of effort into 2021 to make a great album with his project, trio Mapping Roots. It has become a double CD that does not bore you for a minute. ]
« Alweer een album dat laat zien dat er in België geweldige muzikanten rondlopen. Een van hen is de Brusselse basgitarist Michel Vrydag, die zich met diverse genres bezighoudt. Uiteenlopende muziek uit de hele wereld inspireert zijn composities, waar- van er veertien op ‘First Daylight’ zijn opgenomen, verdeeld over twee cd’s. » Ruud Bergamin – Jazzflits jan 2022. [ Another album that shows that there are great musicians around in Belgium. One of them is the Brussels bass guitarist Michel Vrydag, who is into various genres. Diverse music from all over the world inspires his compositions, fourteen of which are included on ‘First Daylight’, spread over two CDs. ]
« Michel Vrydag, the bass-player, clearly guided us to a super jazz world, all set for accompanying his partners, his soli are bright and luminous. They brightened up the performance in spite of the low register of the bass sound » FD – Jazz For you – Jazz Concert Review 2019.
«Michel Vrydag, Bass player … but is this enough to describe this virtuoso musician? Originating from the Belgian jazz scene, he performs incredible jazz soli, gives a rhythmic cohesion to the group and I can only recommend to carefully listen to « New Sweet Home », a banjo virtuoso piece that the best specialists would not disown, to understand what I am trying to describe with limited words. Here are 15 breath taking titles. Those who like instrumental music can now risk opting for this blue grass/new grass pearl made in Belgium» D Guillot – The Bluegrass Times sept 2019.
