Muziekmozaïek, Jazz at Felix, Rataplan Antwerp, Pelt Jazz and CC Het SPOOR Harelbeke are looking for young Belgian jazz talent ready to break through on international stages. During the three preliminary rounds on Thursday 13 March in Hoeilaart, Friday 21 March in Harelbeke, Thursday 3 April in Pelt and Friday 4 April in Antwerp, three young bands will each get the chance to present themselves and their repertoire to the public and the professional jury.

From the entries, 12 bands were selected. Manon Gautier, The Green Mean Machine and Gabriël Noerens Trio will give their best during the preliminary round in GC Felix Sohie Hoeilaart. In addition, Jacky Liu Project, Idle Moments and GoeieVraag! will take the stage at CC Het SPOOR Harelbeke. Luismi Aguilar Sextet, Jonas Blume: First Words and Tim Vermeulen Quartet will give a brilliant concert during the preliminary round at CC Palethe Pelt. Finally, Eloquent, Ola Tunji and Attiolio Sepe Quartet will provide a fourth and final preliminary round in CC Het SPOOR Harelbeke.

After the four preliminary rounds, a professional jury will select two bands that will advance to the finals of B-Jazz International Contest in the autumn.

⏰  Thursday March 13 from 20:00h – 23:00h
        GC Felix Sohie Hoeilaart
Tickets: B-Jazz Contest 2025- Voorronde | GC Felix Sohie

⏰  Friday March 21 from 20:00h – 23:00h
        CC Het SPOOR Harelbeke
Tickets: CC het SPOOR – Belgische voorronde B-Jazz 2025 – International B-jazz Contest – Tickets

⏰  Thursday April 3 from 20:00h – 23:00h
        CC Palethe Pelt
Tickets: Kies tickets – CC Palethe

⏰  Friday April 4 from 20:00h – 23:00h
        Rataplan Antwerpen
Tickets: Kies tickets – Rataplan

Since 2023, Manon Gautier has been forming a new band together with Prithivi Nakarmi, Toon Rumen and Simon Pas. With this band, they breathe life into the pieces they have been writing over the past few months. They know each other from the jazz department at the Antwerp conservatory so a big jazz influence in their music is inevitable and remains their common passion, but the music is also strongly influenced by folk, Latin, pop… Every rehearsal, they go back together in search of new ideas and new forms to mould the written songs, giving everyone a personal impact.

Musicians: Manon Gautier (vocals), Prithivi Nakarami (guitar), Toon Rumen (double bass), Simon Pas (drums)

The Green Mean Machine is a dynamic jazz quartet formed in 2019. The four members of the band first met in Ghent, where they discovered a shared love for jazz and experimental music. Their music is characterised by free-flowing improvisation and infectious energy by striving for the same sense of freedom and playfulness that characterised Miles Davis’ Second Quintet. The members of GMM – Werend Van Den Bossche (Dishwasher_), Warre Van de Putte (Don Marsh V), Marcos Della Rocha (Laughing Bastards) & Zjef Van Steenbergen (Broes) – create a sound that is both powerful and playful, with elements of jazz, classical music & folk. The Green Mean Machine recently released their debut EP, ‘The Engine’. The EP contains five tracks that showcase the band’s unique sound and musical sensibility.

Musicians: Werend Van Den Bossche (alto saxophone), Warre Van de Putte (tenor saxophone), Zjef Van Steenberghen (double bass), Marcos Della Rocha (drums)


The Gabriël Noerens Trio consists of three young musicians from different backgrounds who found each other within the walls of Codarts, University of the Arts in Rotterdam. Their shared passion for jazz has brought them together and led to a journey full of musical growth, creativity, and the development of their own unique sound. Their music finds its roots in traditional jazz, but they approach it with a fresh, contemporary perspective, bringing both existing works and their own compositions to life. This summer they performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Midsummer Jazz Festival in Ronse and at the Listening Square during the Ghent Festivities, among others.

Musicians: Gabriël Noerens (drums), Eljo Hendrosuseno (bass guitar), Thijmen Melissant (guitar)

The musicians of the Jacky Liu Project met within the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. They come together to discover new sounds and ways of playing and to fully enjoy the different feelings that music brings during performance.

Musicians: Edoardo Cimino (guitar), Jonas Blume (piano), Nathan Bruel (double bass), John de Martino (drums), Jacky Yanfeng Liu (tenor saxophone)

These five young musicians met in Basel, Switzerland, where they have the opportunity to meet and play daily. The quintet plays a mix of original contemporary compositions with a strong link to jazz tradition. Despite the players’ international backgrounds, they feel a strong connection with the music they play and each player’s personality. The band plays as one, with a
strong sense of unity, friendship and love for the music.

Musicians: Emiel Verneert (trumpet), Nikita Sipiagin (saxophone), Genius Wesley (drums), Joan Codina (double bass), Max Teakle (piano)

Goeievraag! is a quintet from Ghent, consisting of five musicians who came together to experiment with their musical compositions and ideas. In doing so, they try to combine complex melodies and harmonies with grooves and improvisation. They also like the combination of acoustic instruments and electronic effects. They are not a new band, but they have built an extensive repertoire of their own.

Musicians: Flor-Jan Pauwels (saxophone & flute), Stan Debruyne (guitar), Andreas Beeckman (double bass), Tim Vermeulen (drums), Daan Stynen (piano)

Led by clarinetist Luismi Aguilar, this sextet was created as a tribute to Eric Dolphy, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his death. Their sound is inspired by the 1964 European tour of the legendary Charles Mingus Sextet, with influences from other figures such as George Russell, Wayne Shorter or John Coltrane. The group will perform at Festival Nocturnes edition 2025, at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and will have an artistic residency at the Jazz Station (Brussels) during spring 2025.

Musicians: Luismi Aguilar (clarinet & bass clarinet), Ornella Noulet (tenor saxophone), Gaspard Mathelin (trumpet), Julien Plateau (piano), Emanuel Van Mieghem (double bass), Egon Wolfson (drums)

First Words is the project of German pianist and composer Jonas Blume. The Brussels-based quartet consists of Edoardo Cimino (electric guitar), Emanuel Van Mieghem (double bass), John de Martino (drums) and Jonas Blume (piano, composition). In his own pieces, Blume explores the fine balance between elaborate long compositions and the spontaneity of improvisation. First Words’ music is characterised by catchy melodies, driving grooves, intimate harmony and a fresh approach to musical form. The band is currently preparing several concerts in the Euroregion and an album production.

Musicians: Jonas Blume (piano), Edoardo Cimino (guitar), John de Martino (drums), Emanuel Van Mieghem (double bass)

Modern jazz quartet led by drummer/composer Tim Vermeulen. This quartet started in 2022 and consists of some of Belgium’s most adventurous young improvisers: Felix Declerck (Electric bass), Seppe De Bleser (Alto saxophone), Thibault Deryckere (Piano) and Tim Vermeulen (Drums) The quartet creates a harmonious and rhythmic and dynamic interplay with obscure colours combined with lyrical themes that merge into one full band sound.

Musicians: Thibaut Deryckere (piano), Tim Vermeulen (drums), Seppe De Bleser (alto saxophone), Felix De Clerck (bass)

Eloquent is the graduation project of drummer Jente Vanderrusten. In this project, he has complete freedom to write whatever he wants! So that’s why the compositions have something ‘cinematic’ and ‘groovy’ as their most recognisable element. Besides working with their own compositions, the band also experiments with incorporating electronics into the music.

Musicians: Jente Vanderrusten (drums), Bernard Mestdagh (trombone), Vlad Tolordava (trumpet), Lomme De Pauw (piano), Robbe Desmet (bass)

The new quintet OLA TUNJI is moving in the direction where musical interplay becomes a powerful and expressive whole. The members met and started playing together before the summer of 2023 and then united in the passion each felt for the spiritual and musical life of John Coltrane. The bond between them in and outside the musical life began to manifest, as time passed for the various members of O.T, a path seemed to form to follow, like a vision shared by each feeling, a message to convey, it felt like a mission offered to them. They began playing together more and more, trying to create new music with Coltrane’s gift to life, his music, and from that base, elevating themselves to compose, to express their own personal form of music through improvisation. They play for love, compassion, joy, serenity as meditations and prayers bring them back to a deeper humanity in music. OLA TUNJI released their debut E.P on September 27. It has already received a lot of positive feedback (appearance on Canadian radio station ‘One Man’s Jazz’, press article on ‘All About Jaz’).

Musicians: Egon Wolfson (drums), Ornella Noulet (saxophone), Roman Raynaud (guitar), Anthony Jouravsky (double bass), Loic Lengagne (piano)

The band was formed during Attilio Sepe’s stay in Belgium, home to Italian pianist Marco Marcelletti, Belgian double bassist Emanuel Van Mieghem and Portuguese drummer Diogo Alexandre. This cultural diversity translates into a band with multiple sonic and expressive possibilities, capable of taking multiple directions and improvisational risks. The repertoire is also varied, with pieces by composers such as Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea as well as the band members’ own compositions. The band has already performed on several stages in Belgium and Italy, including in collaboration with Italian legend of tenor saxophone, Maurizio Giammarco.

Musicians: Marco Marcelletti (piano), Emanuel Van Mieghem (double bass), Gabriel Moraes (drums), Attilio Sepe (saxophone)