GAUME JAZZ FESTIVAL 2026 : An Pierlé Quartet

[SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2026]

Deep, provocative grooves to better live in the present moment

An Pierlé, piano, composition / Koen Gisen, clarinet, saxophone / Hendrik Lasure, synthesizer / Casper Van de Velde, drums

“Do you know what human beings need in 2024? Less regret. Less pretense. Less fear. And the courage to live in the present moment.” An Pierlé sings all this with the wisdom of a woman who no longer needs to be a young girl. The An Pierlé Quartet (APQ) is back with a second album on the prestigious W.E.R.F. label: Ultimate Survival. The grooves are even deeper, the lyrics even more provocative. This is partly due to the turn the singer-pianist’s life has taken. The illness with a capital I was overcome, and since then, the realization that it's better to seize every day has become all the more urgent. But Pierlé doesn't let such darkness dominate the new album: the title doesn't refer to that period; it was given to her by the artist Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, who designed the cover. "At first, it made me think of a game like Mortal Kombat, but he drew his inspiration from an old book about animals caring for other species. That's what we all need today."

The first single, "The Sting," sets the tone: a song about accepting the foolish things we sometimes do, against all reason. "Daybreak" celebrates the liberation of being able to start over, while "Make Believe" scratches away at the filters of social media. Sometimes interpreted with a raw warmth, sometimes with the virtuosic flights of a voice that refuses to be anchored in the past—and avoids lightness like the plague—"Ultimate Survival" is an experimental album that sweeps you away on the waves of a narrative. "Save Your Skin" encapsulates both the lyrics and the live performances of the An Pierlé Quartet. For while this album may not be classic jazz, it remains the work of a true jazz group—the connection to David Bowie's last album, Blackstar, is never far away. With keyboardist Hendrik Lasure and drummer Casper Van de Velde (known together as schntzl), the APQ boasts practically the core of the New Wave of Belgian Jazz. The godfather of this jazz wave is producer and saxophonist Koen Gisen. "Casper and Hendrik are world-class," declares Gisen. “What’s magnificent is that they never play the same thing twice, even in the studio. That makes Ultimate Survival a pure snapshot. Live, it leads to a wonderful deviation, knowing that thanks to these two, everything always ends up falling into place.” Pierlé: “Our boys also have an old soul. And that’s precisely why they are our mentors, rather than the other way around. To choose adventure. And to live in the present.”