User:Toinesax/Toine Thys

Toine Thys, born in Brussels in 1972, is a jazz saxophonist who plays tenor, soprano and bass clarinet. He is also a composer and leader of numerous projects.

Private Life
Toine Thys (1972) was born into a musical family in Brussels. Like his brother and sister, he chose an instrument at an early age, opting for the clarinet. Inspired by his brother Nicolas Thys, he took up music after a tour of South America and a degree in Geography at the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles). He is fluent in French, Portuguese, Spanish, English an

He studied at the Brussels Conservatoire with Jeroen Van Herzeele, then obtained a Master of Music degree in the Netherlands with John Ruocco and Ferdinand Povel. Since 2003, he has lived in Schaerbeek, a commune in the Brussels region. As such, the commune of Schaerbeek has awarded him an enamelled plaque on the Celebrity Wall in the Maison des Arts.

Since 2003, he has been married to former model Céline t'Sas, with whom he founded the artist management company BARTOK MANAGEMENT.

Music
Toine Thys is an intense musician who likes to create surprises. Alongside his career as a sideman, he always keeps a number of personal projects on the go. With his groups and collaborations, Thys pushes the boundaries of his comfort zone further and further. A central figure on the saxophone and bass clarinet in Belgium, he can be heard regularly in France and the Netherlands, in Europe, but also in West Africa, Canada and Asia. Human and cultural encounters, traditionally inspired rhythms, the pleasure of playing and precise, demanding execution are at the heart of his work. As well as producing discography and concerts, he is developing a large-scale production of music videos, live or clips, in collaboration with video artist Vincent Blairon.

Projects
Since 2010 he has led the TOINE THYS TRIO with Arno Krijger on Hammond organ and Karl Jannuska. He has recorded 3 albums, including The Optimist in New York in 2019 with Sam Yahel (USA), Karl Jannuska (CAN) and Hervé Samb (SEN) for Igloo Records (⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jazzmag, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jazzenzo).

He leads ORLANDO, featuring Belgian drummer Teun Verbruggen and Frenchmen Florent Nisse on double bass and Maxime Sanchez on piano. Their debut album Orlando, released on Hypnote records, won the Octaves de la musique award for Jazz in 2021 (⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jazzmag, Le Soir ⭐⭐⭐⭐...). Their second album was released in March 2024.

With the OVERSEAS project, he is developing his encounter with traditional music, in the person of the Egyptian oud player Ihab Radwan. They play with Brazilian percussionist Zé Luis Nascimento, Luxembourg cellist Annemie Osborne and Dutch pianist Harmen Fraanje. Their debut album, Tamam Morning, has won international acclaim. At the crossroads of Arabic music and hijazz modes, jazz and tonal improvisation, classical music and the rhythms of Brazilian music, they play a repertoire made up of free, melodious compositions of their own (⭐⭐⭐⭐ Songlines, ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jazzmag). Toine Thys's electronic explorations can be found in the group GURU.FARM (a.k.a. DERvISH) with drummer and producer Pat Dorcean, bassist Dries Laheye and keyboardist David Thomaere. They play a spacy, offbeat brand of glossy jazz, electro and groove. Their debut album Guédé was released in 2021. Transformed by electronic filters, the saxophone becomes a synth to join the trio's groove: Beat music! Toine Thys is exploring a solo project, LoFi-Sufi, in which he combines tenor saxophone and electronic sounds with dance and circus arts (the tightrope walkers of the Compagnie des Chaussons Rouges). Alongside his personal projects, Toine Thys can also be found in the bands Laïla Amezian, Laurent Blondiau, drummer Angelo Moustapha's group IBIYEWA (Benin/Madagascar) and Robert Jukic (Slovenia), Afrikan Protokol (Burkina Faso), Bounce Trio (FR), Bram Weijters Crazy Men (B), Olivier Collette Heptone Colours, Antoine Pierre URBEX (B), with Burkinabe griot Zouratié Kone, and alongside percussionist Chris Joris.

He took part in WALRUS with his brother Nicolas Thys (double bass), Nicolas Kummert (saxophone) and Karl Jannuska (drums), and was a member of the Take the Duck quartet with Daniel Nösig (trumpet) and the Bloody Mary quartet with Anne Paceo (drums). He has released two albums with his RACKHAM project, bringing together jazz and rock musicians. He takes part in pianist Matthieu Marthouret's Bounce Trio project, with Gautier Garrigue (drums). This trio recorded two albums, Smalls Streams...Big Rivers and Contrasts with Serge Lazarevitch.

Teaching
Toine Thys gives numerous masterclasses in Belgium and abroad. He has a strong presence in West Africa, and in 2014 founded a wind instrument school in Burkina Faso with trumpeter Laurent Blondiau and the support of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, bringing together future wind players from Burkina Faso: LES VENTISTES DU FASO. Armed with a wealth of experience and a concept of teaching wind instruments in an African context, he is in demand for other workshops in Cotonou (Benin), Lubumbashi as part of the Rumba Parade (DRC), and Nairobi (Kenya) in a multi-year collaboration with Ghetto Classics in the company of Karl Jannuska.

As a leader

 * 2006 : Juanita K - Rackham (Bartok Records)
 * 2010 : Shoot them all - Rackham (Bartok Records)
 * 2012 : The End Of Certainty - Toine Thys Trio (Bartok Records)
 * 2013 : Abstracks - DERvISH (Bartok Records)
 * 2015 : Grizzly - Toine Thys Trio (Igloo records) ,
 * 2019 : The Optimist - Toine Thys Trio (Igloo Records), ,
 * 2020 : Orlando - Toine Thys (Hypnote Records), , ,
 * 2021 : Tamam Morning - Toine Thys' OVERSEAS (Igloo Records), ,
 * 2021 : Guédé - GURU.FARM (Bartok Records)

As a co-leader
With Daniel Nösig (AUT)


 * 2002 : Resolution - Take the Duck (Ducktones)
 * 2004 : Duck's Food - Take the Duck (Coco Record Label)
 * 2006 : Live at umit - Take the Duck (Coco Record Label)

As a sideman

 * 2013 : Youth - Nicolas Pfeiffer
 * 2013 : Duology - Stéphane Mercier
 * 2013 : Call for transformation - Afrikan Protokol
 * 2014 : Freedom from the known - Afrikan Protokol
 * 2014 : Small Streams... Big Rivers - Bounce Trio
 * 2016 : Contrasts - Bounce Trio feat. Serge Lazarevitch (Ducktones)
 * 2017 : Urbex - Antoine Pierre (Igloo Records)
 * 2017 : Contrasts  - Bounce Trio feat. Serge Lazarevitch
 * 2018 : Sketches Of Nowhere  - Antoine Pierre Urbex