At the start of the new millennium the authoritative French monthly Jazz Magazine selected last century's 35 most important jazz pianists. The Belgian Fred van Hove appeared in that list and found himself surrounded by jazz greats like Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Paul Bley and Cecil Taylor. Van Hove, a classically trained pianist, has been praised for his virtuosity, creativity and versatility as an improvising musician for many years now. The 70-year-old icon is matched with the frolicking puppies of Othin Spake, a trio that is really happening at the moment. Othin Spake is the result of the 'carte blanche' drummer Teun Verbruggen received from the Brussels venue Jazz à l'Archiduc. He decided to hit the stage with dEUS-guitarist Mauro Pawlowski and keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin (Magic Malik). Their music is a mélange of sound-scapes, punk, minimal electronics and jazz.
