Bands
Verbist/Baars/Lagatie
The trio met each other at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp in 2020, where they had lessons together with teacher Kurt Van Herck. The repertoire consists of originals by all band members, as well as jazz standards and songs by composers like Bill Evans, Kenny Wheeler, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Bert Joris and others. The band's focus lies on interplay within groove, swing, and free improvisation, but with a lot of attention for melody and space. They played concerts at the Jazz in Thals festival, Rataplan, Jazz at Felix, Arts Centre Kaleidoscoop... as well as Milan Verbist's graduation concert in DeSingel. In February, the band recorded a concert video at Studio Toots (VRT) as part of Milan's selection for 'De Twintigers' by Klara.
Milan Verbist Trio
Milan Verbist - piano
Jef Manderveld - contrabas
Simon Van Brandt - drums
In 2015, three young musicians met each other at De! Kunsthumaniora in Antwerp. They discovered their love for the same music: bebop & hard bop. In 2016, they decided to form a trio under the leadership of piano player Milan Verbist. The other band members are Jef Manderveld (double bass) and Simon Van Brandt (drums). At this time, they all three study at the conservatoire in Antwerp. Their repertoire consists of a mix of standards, hard bop tunes and some own compositions. The trio already played a lot of concerts at festivals (Klara in de Singel, Wintervuur, Jammin' Festival in Rome, IT) and in bars/clubs in Belgium.
Verbist - Verbist
Milan Verbist - piano
Piet Verbist - double bass
Piet Verbist ('61) & Milan Verbist ('99), father and son, have been playing together at home since Milan was a kid. They started playing concerts together in the fall of 2019. Joined by other musicians in different line-ups, the repertoire mainly consists of their own compositions and repertoire from the modal and post-bop idiom, songs by John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Thelonious Monk.
Cobalt Trio
Milan Verbist - piano
Wolf De Backer - bass
Klaas De Somer - drums
When Milan Verbist, Wolf De Backer and Klaas De Somer play together, they become 'Cobalt Trio'. The trio started playing together in June 2020 at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp, where the three musicians met each other. Their repertoire consists of a mix of own compositions and existing songs and standards.
In February 2022, the Cobalt Trio won the 2nd place of the '7 Virtual Jazz Club' in the 'under 25' category with the track Milan's Blues.
Van Bortel/Verbist
Ben van Bortel - guitar or double bass
Milan Verbist - piano
Ben Van Bortel and Milan Verbist play together regularly. Most of the time with a quartet, but from time to time, they also play duo and trio concerts. Their repertoire consists of jazz standards and originals, with influences from gipsy jazz, swing, bebop and hard bop. Ben is both a guitarist as a bass player.
Luyten/Verbist/Baars/Van Deventer
Tom Luyten - alto sax
Milan Verbist - piano
Tristan Baars - double bass
Joris Van Deventer (NL) - drums
Tom, Milan and Tristan knew each other from their studies at De! Kunsthumaniora and the conservatoire in Antwerp. Thanks to Tristan, they met drummer Joris Van Deventer. Their first concert was in the summer of 2019 in café Hopper in Antwerp. After that concert, they decided to keep playing together. This resulted in a five day concert run in Oktober 2019. They also played at Hasselt in The Mood. They mainly play existing songs, written by musicians like Cedar Walton, Benny Golson, Dick Oatts, Freddie Hubbard...
Blue Bop Quintet
Seba Colson - trompet
Tobias Volckaert - tenorsax
Milan Verbist - piano
Jef Manderveld - contrabas
Simon Van Brandt - drums
The Blue Bop Quintet consists of five young musicians who are in love with bebop and hard bop. They have a large repertoire which consists of own songs, and songs by their idols (musicians like Benny Golson, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley...). They are playing together since 2016, and they already played at events as Zomer Van Antwerpen, Jazz in't Mas, Yellowtime Festival, Jazzathome...
