Laïla Amezian

The history of Laïla Amezian reflects the typical Brussels culture: a crossroad of various talents, diverse worlds and rhythms. It is an urban (re)mix, from which everyone can take or contribute to.
Laïla’s origins lie in Morocco, the city of Tanger where her musical family comes from. She is born in Antwerp in 1968 and has been living in Brussels for a long time. She strives to unite east and west, old and new, mysticism and music, at the same time sticking to her Moroccan-Brussels identity.

In the fifteen years of her career Laïla took many roads to educate herself and reach her goal. In 1992 she took her first singing lessons, followed by many training courses and master classes: French chanson in order to learn about interpretation, classical singing for the technique, jazz to learn to improvise, the spiritual practice of ‘Five Rhythms’ for movement, gypsy singing for conveying emotions and Brazilian music for the adventure of it.

As numerous and diverse are the groups and projects Laïla participated in: Ys (polyphonic singing), Oblomow (Arabo-European folk), Studio Pagol (electro-ethno-dance), Weshm and Quayna (contemporary Arabic). She also contributed to dance and theatre performances (DJ Grazzhoppa's DJ Big Band) and choral events, e.g. Uit de Bol/Coup de Choeurs (KVS) and The Shouting Fence (Kaaitheater).
Personal project were Arabanda, a meeting between Arabo-Andalusian music and an accordion in brass mood, the adaptation of  oriental repertoire based on the theme ‘seduction’ for the Belgian Klara Festival and last but not least Bast, her first solo creation based on  fragments of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, in English and Arab. In 2010 she started TriOde, the result of years of growth, inspiration and dedication.

Her musicians

Anja Naucler (cello)
Anja Naucler is born in Sweden in 1976. She started playing the piano when she was seven years old and switched to cello a few years later. She studied at the University of Göteborg with the Dutch cellist Haro Ruijsenaars and received her masters title in 1999. At the Royal Conservatory of Brussels she studied with Vivianne Spanhoghe and followed master classes with Torleif Thedéén, Mats Rondin and Dmitri Ferschtman. At the Orpheus Institute in Ghent she specialised in chamber music with Danel Quartet.
Anja collaborated in several projects, ranging from classical music to jazz and from rock to world music. Her classical projects include the Flemish Radio Orchestra and various chamber music ensembles, jazz projects with Alexandre Furnelle, Alexi Tuomarila and Nicolas Kummert. She accompanies the (world music) singers Ghalia Benali and Manou Gallo and she plays in the rock project Joy with Marc Huyghens.

Stephan Pougin (drums & percussion)
During his career Stephan Pougin has shared the stage with numerous musicians and bands like Aurélia, Tuur Floorizone, Zefiro Torna, Mikis Théodorakis, Pirly Zustrassen, Panta Rhei, Steve Houben, Greg Houben, Jacques Pirotton, Après un rêve, La Cetra D'Orfeo, Rêve d'Eléphant Orchestra, Ghalia Benali, Zongora, Al Orkesta,... He contributed to a least fifty cd’s.
Influenced by his father he started making music at the tender age of two. He has studied with many of the great musicians of today, ranging from Louis Marceau and Francis Leroy to Georges-Elie Octors and Billy Hart. He is a versatile player, with an attractive and sensual style, inspired by music from Africa, Eastern Europe and Brazil. He is equally at home in the classical and jazz scene as in world music bands.

Michaël Grébil (ceterina d’amore, guitar)
This musicians navigates between medieval music (with Jordi Savall & Hesperion XXI) and contemporary electro-acoustic sounds (Zahava Seewald). He designed a unique instrument: the ‘ceterina d'amore’, a bowed cister with sympathetic strings.

Laurent Blondiau (trumpet, fluegelhorn)
Laurent Blondiau is very active in the European and Belgian jazz scene. He plays in several bands: the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Nathalie Loriers, Aka Moon etc. In 1997 he started his own group, Maak's Spirit, characterised by free improvisation.