And now...for something completely different: Concrete Web's excursions into the world of Belgian Jazz music...or not?!
Born in 1966, Ivan Paduart started taking lessons on the piano at the tender age of 10, made an attempt at trumpet improvisation a little later, started his first band Contrefaut at the age of 16, and discovered Jazz at the age of 17, while he was attending Brussels' Athenée Royal Gatti de Gamont. A masterclass with Michel Herr (then pianist with Belgian Jazz great and mouth harmonica payer Toots Tielemans) convinces Ivan to go for Jazz all the way and, following six months at an Antwerp studio and one year at Rotterdam's Koninklijk Conservatorium, he joins the groups of American guitarist John Thomas, Italian trumpet player Gino Lattuca (which earned him a 1st prize at Brussels' 1989 Jazz Rally), and Belgian trombone player Phil Abraham (got him a 2nd prize at the International Jazz Competition at La Defense in Paris, that same year) in 1988 (further prizes he won include 1st prize of the 1987 Knack Trophy, in Ostend; 1st prize at Brussels' Concours International de Radios de Langue Française in 1990; 1st prize at Monaco's 1992 Concours International de Compositions Jazz; and the 1st prize at the 1993 Festival International de Jazz à Liège). Also in 1988, Ivan starts his first own Jazz Fusion quintet Aftertouch with friends Vincent Mardens (saxophone), Patrick Deltenre (guitar), Benoit Vanderstreaten (bass) and Mimi Verderame (drums), who release their self-titled debut album in 1990. The band toured the album for two years, playing shows in Belgium, France and Germany, sharing the stage with some of Jazz Fusion greats such as Bill Evans, Didier Lockwood, Hermeto Pascoal, and many others.
After that the line-up changed somewhat from album to album, and in 1995 he starts a two-year stint with the band of Toots Tielemans, not forgetting at the same time his own music. With changing line-ups, and a preference of the 3-musician setting, several new albums are released on a regular basis, and tours are done not only in Europe, but also in Canada. To date, Paduart has released 25 albums (several of which live recordings, and one even an experiment in World Music – 2005's Vivre), of which the May 2005 released Alone was his first solo album!
In essence, Alone# is that same album, but remixed and re-mastered...and with three bonus track, leading to an extra of almost 7 ½ minutes extra music. If you're expecting solo Jazz Fusion piano play, you may well find yourself deceived, as only three or four of the tracks actually have a Jazz basis, the others actually being neo-classical shorties with a length varying between 75 seconds to 4:43, with an average of only 2:30 for 26 tracks! Personally, I feel I would've liked the album more when there'd been less, but longer tracks. As things stand, there's a lot of different melodies on the album, which makes things for the listener somewhat difficult.
For an insight of Paduart's music, check the “Audio Clips” section at (www.) ivanpaduart.com. The songs posted off the Alone album are “Véronique” and “Zen” - an extra track can be found in the discography (click on the 2014 album cover to find the possibility to listen to bonus track “Arvo”). Rating is mainly for the masterly handling of the piano. To find Paduart in live setting (he's doing a series of educational concerts throughout the year, and even participates in a Summer Jazz Camp), check the “Concerts” section on his website.