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Flat Earth Society

Flat Earth Society USA tour 2014:

21/06/2014: Rochester Jazz Festival 22/06/2014: Rochester Jazz Festival 24/06/2014: Le Poisson Rouge, New York 25/06/2014: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Pittsburgh 26/06/2014: The Jam Factory, Toronto 27/06/2014: Ottawa Jazz Festival

"The music is full of bizarre and shocking juxtapositions…but once you’ve got over the sheer oddity, the juxtaposition becomes poetic, though in a surreal way. It’s as if a night scene in a Raymond Chandler novel were suddenly invaded by a flock of seagulls. Vermeersch’s approach is risky, which is what makes it so energising.” (Ivan Hewett — The Telegraph) “Flat Earth Society, a tight 15-piece band led by clarinettist and composer Peter Vermeersch, late of X-Legged Sally. Two brilliant sets confirmed how accomplished they are, twisting rapidly from theatrical bombast to tenderness, collective improv, mad movie-chase music and back to swinging anthems... Wet is Wet presented jazz as envisaged by Goebbels. Vermeersch grins impishly, like a young Daniel Libeskind, as he directs his close-knit ensemble. He is a monster talent, with an outrageously original band.” (John L. Walters — The Guardian, about the concert at the London Jazz Festival, Nov 2007)

FES was founded in 1998, when no-nonsense artist, former architect, clarinettist, saxophonist, keyboard player, composer and producer Peter Vermeersch, wanted to explore new horizons after having convinced music lovers all over the word with Maximalist! and the cult legend band X-legged Sally. Vermeersch, who worked with international artists like Josse De Pauw, Wim Vandekeybus, Vincent Bal, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Fred Frith, The Simpletones and Jazzwork from Berlin and wrote music for the Arditti Quartet, Prima La Musica and the Smith Quartet, assembled a pack of inspired and inimitable musicians, forming a big band which has nowadays become much more than just a big band. Peter Vermeersch included, the band now consists of a permanent group of 14 musicians: Stefaan Blancke (trombone), Benjamin Boutreur (saxes), Berlinde Deman (bass tuba), Bart Maris (trumpet), Michel Mast (saxes), Marc Meeuwissen (trombone), Kristof Roseeuw (double bass), Luc Van Lieshout (trumpet), Bruno Vansina (saxes), Peter Vandenberghe (keyboards & compositions), Teun Verbruggen (percussion), Wim Willaert (accordion) and Tom Wouters (clarinet, percussion). Occasionally this group is completed by guest musicians: Esther Lybeert (vocals) and/or Pierre Vervloesem (guitar).

The music of FES, varying from strictly written sheet music to liberating improvisation, is 95% homemade. Streaks of music of other composers are used as inspiration, frequently arranged, adapted and integrated into FES compositions, adding a wide range of atmospheres and styles to the eclectic FES universe. FES, who dares to flirt with other disciplines as theatre and film and owns the ability to seduce a number of different audiences, from more select jazz listeners to a wild young rock public, is at its best live on stage. Toots Thielemans experienced their joy of playing, their humour and technical skill and joined them on stage during Jazz Middelheim 2003. He refers to FES as a ‘a band of rebels!’ FES must be the most versatile and at the same time the most daring big band phenomena ever.

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386
Album Review

Flat Earth Society: Cheer Me, Perverts!

Read "Cheer Me, Perverts!" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Fifteen-piece Belgian big band Flat Earth Society is the sonic equivalent of a freak show--weird, wonderful and like nothing you've come across before. Cheer Me, Perverts! is bursting with the energy of punk--sharing some of the anarchy, too--yet the CD exhibits intricate section harmonies and wonderful contrapuntal melodies. The soloists revel in their freedom, and the playing is characterized by idiosyncrasy and skill in equal measure. Zappa-esque and Ellingtonian in turn, Balkan brass meets 1970s prog rock, Cheer Me is ...

266
Album Review

Flat Earth Society: Psychoscout

Read "Psychoscout" reviewed by Nic Jones


Sit up and listen. Flat Earth Society is a big band with the integrity of a magpie, in the sense that it goes for the shiniest elements of a cultural outlook that takes in a kind of homage to Kurt Weill, incidental music for old TV detective series, and perhaps a touch of Henry Cow at its most formal. All that makes for listening that could have you laughing out loud or wondering happily over the sheer bravura of it ...

362
Album Review

Flat Earth Society: Psychoscout

Read "Psychoscout" reviewed by Troy Collins


This Belgian big band has made quite a name for itself on the international underground scene. After touring with Mike Patton's postmodern metal band Fantomas, the group accrued some well deserved notoriety for its boundless spirit and unconventional outlook. While the members of the Flat Earth Society can readily ply pre-war 1940s big band charts with conviction and emotional commitment, they can also whip up a frenzy in the matter of such postmodern iconoclasts as John Zorn and Phillip Johnston.

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119

Performance / Tour

Flat Earth Society to tour the USA in May

Flat Earth Society to tour the USA in May

Source: Anniek Vanhee

Flat Earth Society is coming to the USA for their first performances ever on American soil.

May 14, Tropical Heatwave, Tampa (USA première) May 15, The Palladium, St Petersburgh (Fl) May 17: Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center, Washington May 18: Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia May 19: Lincoln Center, Atrium Stage, NY May 20: Museum of The Moving Image, NY May 21: Surprise club gig, NY

About Flat Earth Society FES was founded in 1998, when no-nonsense artist, ...

89

Recording

Flat Earth Society's New CD Available in the U.S. September 26th

Flat Earth Society's New CD Available in the U.S. September 26th

Source: Improvised Communications

Psychoscout (Crammed Discs CRAM 128), the new CD from the Belgian big band Flat Earth Society (FES), will be released in America on September 26th through Ryko Distribution. Founded in 1998 by clarinetist/composer Peter Vermeersch, the group mixes whimsy and sophistication into a dynamic trademark sound that embraces influences ranging from rock to avant-garde classical to cartoon music.

American critics have called Flat Earth Society “a band capable of everything from beautiful chamber jazz miniatures to slinky crime-theme jazz noir ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Untitled #0

Igloo Records
2019

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Cheer Me, Perverts!

Crammed Discs
2009

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Psychoscout

Crammed Discs
2006

buy

13

Igloo Records
0

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Sneak Attack of the Sponges

From: 13
By Flat Earth Society

Psychoscout

From: Psychoscout
By Flat Earth Society

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