Stéphane Galland & The Rhythm Hunters

Stéphane Galland & The Rhythm Hunters integrate rhythmic principles from different parts of the world into a highly personal language, with polyphonic, groovy and trance-like aspects (Africa), mathematically complex ones (India) and irregular pulsations (Balkans).

The project is a sequel to Stéphane’s previous project ’(the mystery of) Kem’. The objective: to explore different approaches to rhythm and to integrate them into a fluid musical discourse. This process requires extensive collective work, so that the whole group becomes familiar with these new rhythmic concepts and challenges. The group consists of young musicians Shoko Igarashi (Japan), alto saxophonist Sylvain Debaisieux (Belgium), trumpet player Pierre-Antoine Savoyat (France), pianist Wajdi Riahi (Tunisia) and Louise van den Heuvel (Netherlands) on electric bass. Drummer Stéphane Galland, a founder of AKA Moon, composed the pieces as divergent musical territories inviting ‘rhythm hunting’. The band’s debut album appeared on Challenge Records in April of 2024. Bring your adventurous ears!

About the album: Hunting for rhythm, as if our lives depended on it, as if, without rhythm, we’d starve to death. Can body and soul live without rhythm? Seizing its different forms, dissecting it, ingesting it, digesting it, could very well be akin to the Rhythm Hunters’ creative process. What are the rhythmic principles that lead us to develop its polyphonic, groovy and trance-like aspects (Africa), or mathematically complex ones (India), or irregular pulsations that transcend asperities (Balkans), among others? To go on a rhythm hunt, why not explore all these places, appreciate the infinite diversity of rhythms and, back home, try to understand and experiment with enriching your own rhythmic vocabulary with the basic principles underlying each musical tradition. What can these principles contribute if you transcend borders and begin to adapt your musical knowledge and experience to the new ramifications of the rhythm you’ve just discovered? The music of The Rhythm Hunters is one of the answers.

Musicians:

  • Shoko Igarashi (tenor saxophone)
  • Sylvain Debaisieux (alto saxophone)
  • Pierre-Antoine Savoyat (trumpet)
  • Wajdi Riahi (piano)
  • Louise van den Heuvel (electric bass)
  • Stéphane Galland (drums)

Limited number of tickets available for the general public, buy here. Full access to conference ticket holders.