With Pentadox, Samuel Ber has created a unique vehicle that gives free rein to his creativity. The core of the band – Samuel Ber (drums), Sylvain Debaisieux (sax) and Bram De Looze (piano) – has been shaping creative and improvised music for some years now and is focusing on long-term exploration of new concepts and ideas about composition, improvisation and interaction. Every time they meet, the 3 protagonists adventurously navigate between pieces and realities like children in a playground. In each of their projects, they are joined by other guest musicians, challenging collaborations which each time reshape the musical vision of these artists. For “Between”, the group is joined by acclaimed European saxophonists Bo Van der Werf and French saxophonist Guillaume Orti. For their sophomore record ‘Fragments of Expansion’, the trio was accompanied by US musicians Weston Olencki (trombone and electronics), Lester St. Louis (cello) and Nick Dunston (double bass).
It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that Pentadox has proven successful and their talent has been recognized in competitions and via awards. After a residency in Jazz Station (Brussels) in 2015, the group was selected as the Belgian finalist of the B-Jazz International Contest 2016. Since then, they’ve played, amongst others, at Leuven Jazz Festival and Mithra Jazz à Liège. Their continued efforts were also rewarded in July 2018 by receiving the award for Young Jazz Talent Ghent at the Ghent Jazz Festival. In 2020, they were in the finals of the Avignon jazz festival.
Line-up
Samuel Ber – drums
Sylvain Debaisieux – saxophone
Bram De Looze – piano