VI.BE

Antoine Pierre is a young Belgian gifted drummer and composer. He always looks for new outstanding creations and artistic encounters within the Jazz music sphere; which is an endless sensations laboratory. After a childhood spent listening to the records of his parents, blowing into a saxophone and banging on washing powder packs, Antoine Pierre started playing the drums at the age of 12. Eager to turn the noises he produced into music, he consulted his elders: Antoine Cirri, Stephane Galland, Bill Stewart, Antonio Sanchez, …

In 2008, he created the Metropolitan Laboratory, a band that he brought to multiple festivals such as Jazz à Liège Festival, Dima Jazz Festival (Algeria) and Comblain Jazz Festival. Antoine has now the honor to perform with world-class musicians such as Philip Catherine, Philippe Aerts, Enrico Pieranunzi, Didier Lockwood, Frank Vignola, Tim Armacost, Steve Houben, Jean-Paul Estiévenart, Nic Thys, Toine Thys, Pascal Mohy, etc.

In 2014, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Master degree from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Antoine moved to New York to study at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and to play with musicians of the local jazz scene.

Awards: - Toots Thielemans Jazz Award 2014 - Brussels Jazz Marathon 2010, best soloist - Comblain Jazz Festival 2009, best soloist and best young talent band - Sabam Jazz Awards 2015, best young talent

URBEX stands for Urban Exploration and the fascinating aesthetics of abandoned old buildings that time tries to embellish with mushrooms, mould and stains, while the damp and cold strips the wallpaper and eatinto window frames.

Antoine Pierre’s music echoes with this atmosphere; alive yet deserted, chaotic but with structure. Antoine invents arrangements that are rich, dense and that alternate between gentler atmospheres that tend towards the void and then spiral into stunning climaxes. He plays with expectations.

URBEX came together between stays in two cities. On the one hand, Brussels where he studied music and met his sparring partners. On the other, New York offered him the opportunity to get close to the sources of Jazz. These twin urban roots act as a catalyst for compositions and arrangements that are by turns energetic and apocalyptic and that really come alive when played by the octet.

"The tracks are intelligent, sophisticated, carefully worked (...) There is something of a painter’s work, sketching out huge landscapes, creating atmosphere, a particular climate. There is something of Claude Monet in the fluidity, delicate touch, the impression. But also some Spilliaert in the atmosphere and mystery. And also some Pollock in the energy, the dynamics, the splash of colours." (Le SOIR, JCV)