re#encounter

re#encounter is a Brussels-based hybrid jazz collective connecting people through festive ceremonies that bridge tradition and improvisation.

re#encounter brings some of Brussels’ most soulful voices together around a trance-driven exploration of afro-diasporic musical heritage and its resonance in the city. 

With gnawa grooves, cumbia chants, griot storytelling, and ecstatic jazz improvisation, the group creates a vibrant, danceable soundscape that breathes spontaneity, cultural depth and an affinity for all things sacred.

More than a concert, a re#encounter is a living ritual — merging music, live conversation, audience participation, and visuals into a powerful shared experience.

BIO

re#encounter was born from a carte blanche granted to initiator Robbe Bey Latré by MetX. In search of an accessible yet anthropologically informed way to foster dialogue across musical traditions — steering away from the cliché of music as a "universal" language — Robbe brought together some of the most captivating voices from Brussels’ jazz and worldwide music scenes:

gnawa maestro Hicham Bilali (Black Koyo), the thunderous griot Kaito Winse (Avalanche Kaito), cumbia shamanka Paula León (Indios Beta, AMAWA), rising star Lúcia Pires (LNDNxBX Interplay, Kanda), space jazz poet Joos Vandueren (BSFOE, Abstract Inc., Aligaga), and groove wizards Falk Schrauwen (Echoes of Zoo, Compro Oro, Sylvie Kreusch) and Anaïs Moffarts (Araponga, AiFanamenco).

Their first improvised encounter at the end of 2023 laid the foundation for a shared musical story. Robbe Bey then shaped the raw jams into catchy tracks, launching a series of recurring jam sessions in Brussels from 2024 onward in collaboration with MetX.  

After a residency at the Centre Culturel de Namur and a recording session at Boma Studio in Gent with Frederik Seghers, re#encounter will host jams and shows in the 2025-2026 season before presenting their debut album Angels & Demons @ Play in September 2026 on W.E.R.F. Records.

"re-encounter: 

to meet someone or experience something in a way that was not planned, for a second, third, etc. time"

• Cambridge English Dictionary

re#encounter presents:

Angels & Demons @ Play

In Angels & Demons @ Play, its first album and live project, re#encounter dives deep into its strongest common ground: trance. A thread runs between Hicham’s gnawa idiom, Kaito’s boundless energy, Paula’s back-to-the-roots cumbia, and the ecstatic jazz improvisations of Lúcia and Joos — a thread further embodied by Falk and his mastery of Afro-Caribbean rhythms. At its core lies the Black Atlantic: that powerful, imaginative nexus where spiritual connection, trance, and music intertwine across cultures. Angels & Demons @ Play becomes a living, danceable exploration of the musical ingredients of that connection — an attempt to make that shared ground resound in all its diversity.

In this project, re#encounter sets up a dialogue between Hicham’s gnawa chants and the griot and cumbia traces in Kaito and Paula’s voices, weaving stories of ancestors, cosmic journeys, and djinns together in a local Afro-diasporic narrative. Lúcia, Joos, and Robbe shape vibrant soundscapes and infectious melodies based on traditional material, while Falk and Anaïs navigate this orchestral whirlwind with ease — tying it all together through tight, culturally informed rhythms.

Spontaneity and improvisation are the norm, with hypnotic meditations giving way to festive explosions. Angels & Demons @ play brings to life a spiritual jazz idiom in the spirit of Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, and Shabaka Hutchings — but with a distinctly Brussels touch. Afrofuturism, grown from local soil.

In September 2026, Angels & Demons @ Play will be released as an album on W.E.R.F. Records. In an impressive live show, re#encounter not only aims to dazzle audiences with top-tier improvisation and a unique lineup, but also to actively involve them in a performance that feels more like a ceremony than a concert. The Q&A format, dance, and repetition — all intrinsic to the traditions that inspire the music — naturally invite audience participation. This is made possible through accessible arrangements, a wide array of percussion instruments available for the audience to use, and engaging visuals. Just like re#encounter’s ongoing sessions with MetX, these performances can evolve into open jam sessions during or after the set, depending on the setting. In this way, an Angels & Demons @ Play concert becomes a shared experience — a contemporary ritual that connects audiences with the deep cultural richness of Brussels.

Finally, the project also seeks to provide context for the stories it tells — the people behind the music, and the compelling narrative of the transatlantic, Afro-diasporic connection (with its roots in both forced and voluntary migration) and its many manifestations in Brussels.

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images by Monday Jr. / gif by Maxo Rosso