Robin Verheyen Trio

Every TaxiWars fan knows the moment somewhere halfway through the evening: Tom Barman discreetly moves to one side of the stage. Then Robin Verheyen on soprano saxophone deploys his composition “Roscopaje,” a vehicle to freewheel briskly together with bassist Nic Thys and drummer Antoine Pierre.

An extraordinary outing brought the Verheyen-Thys-Pierre trio to the Ardennes for an entire evening. “Roscopaje” was on the program, and also some other songs written together by Robin Verheyen. But above all, the trio’s impressive jazz credentials color their approach and repertoire of their own songs, standards, ballads, Thelonious Monk.

Apart from TaxiWars, the three warriors nimmers also have a serious reputation in international jazz circles. Verheyen and Thys through their long-term presence on the New York scene and through their own records and collaborations with not the least names (Gary Peacock, Marc Copland, Joey Baron for Verheyen, Bill Carrothers at the legendary Village Vanguard for Thys). Antoine Pierre, with his band Urbex, is now considered one of the rising stars in Europe.