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Antoine Pierre

Antoine Pierre

Antoine Pierre
Drums

Brussels-based drummer and composer Antoine Pierre (1992) has become a key figure on the Belgian jazz scene.

Genre
Jazz
    Biography

    Leader of the bands URBEX and Next.Ape but also a pro-active sideman, he is a part of various important bands on the international scene -a.o. with eminent guitarist Philip Catherine or with « TaxiWars », the jazz vs. rock experiment  led by Tom Barman and Robin Verheyen.

    Back from New York in 2015 where he studied for a year after graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Pierre received the Sabam Jazz Award for Young Talent. Later that year, he went into the studio to record his first album as a leader, URBEX. Released in 2016, the band toured for two years in Belgium and around then went back into the studio to record their second album, 'Sketches Of Nowhere' (2018, Igloo Records).

    Critically acclaimed (Choc Jazzman, Indispensable Jazz News, Must TSF, Octave de la Musique 2019, …), they embarked on their first international tour with different line-ups and guests such as Ben Van Gelder, Reinier Baas or Magic Malik.

    Another side of Pierre’s multiple-sided artistic personality is shown by the creation of his trip-hop/alternative/electric band Next.Ape in which he joins forces with Hungarian singer Veronika Harcsa, guitarist Lorenzo Di Maio and keyboardist Jérôme Klein. In February 2019, they released their first EP and tour internationally - sometimes with American saxophonist Ben Wendel as special guest. Throughout 2019 and 2020, they regularly went in the studio to prepare their first album, due for release in 2021.

    In January 2020, Pierre was the artist-in-residence at the Brussels Jazz Festival (Flagey) for which he was commissioned to present 3 different projects: an all-star quartet featuring American saxophonist Joshua Redman, a completely improvised set with fellow drummers Lander Gyselinck and Mark Schilders and an internationally-enlarged version of his band URBEX. The latter was recorded and prompted their latest album, 'Suspended', released in September 2020 (Outnote Records).

    Antoine is working on a new solo project, to be presented in 2021. 

    Throughout the years and various projects that covered several albums, he has fine-tuned his approach and style. This led to him to stand out clearly and be welcomed by the finest players. Pierre is a pro-active sideman (Jean-Paul Estiévenart Quintet, Veronika Harcsa Quartet, TaxiWars,…) who already played with various musicians such as Philip Catherine, Joshua Redman, Enrico Pieranunzi, Ben Wendel, Logan Richardson, Jacky Terrasson, Didier Lockwood,…