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Fred Van Hove: WIM FANFARE - Free Music (1975 -1988)
ByIn Belgium, the WIM (Workshop for Improvising Musicians)'s Free Music Festival has fallen through the cracks of jazz history, but is no less spectacular for its obscurity. Founded in 1975 by

Fred Van Hove
accordionCel Overberghe
saxophoneAndré Goudbeek
saxophone, altoIvo Vander Borght
percussionKris Vinck
trombone, bassEvery track smells like the street. The blaring, expressionistic accordion swooning between tinny mallets tastes like sopping cheese curds and oily fritters, Goudbeek's salacious toots resemble the earthy rasp of the vendor's slogans. It is difficult to mistake the incorrigible back- and-forth between
Herman Paessens
saxophone, sopranoThe performances teeter on the line of the ridiculous and carnivalesque, and upon noticing the line, they eagerly trounce over it Marches, rags, jigs, polkas and more, all represented in equal fervor. An entire history of folk music in the 20th century is acted out, part grandiose procession, part madcap farce. The orbits of the sublime and the crass are rendered very close together, the two crashing and mixing like meteors surging toward the earth. Nothing is sacred, or perhaps everything is; the profound and profane twin cliffs staring down the same mad abyss.
WIM concerts are born from the streets and naturally take the many signs and signals urban life produces. They are far from the first to do so. But the musicians do not act as parrots, do no not deign to imitate these scenes, which frequently reduces them to mockery. It is not translation they are after, but the "thing" in itself. If the syncopated drum line resembles the controlled chopping of a Flemish butcher, or the cackle of
Richard Cuvillier
trumpetTrack Listing
Prijs 75; Wrijloop; FM 84; Leer Mij Zingen; Gutcha; Piket; FM 88.
Personnel
Fred Van Hove
accordionCel Overberghe
saxophoneAndré Goudbeek
saxophone, altoIvo Vander Borght
percussionAlbum information
Title: WIM FANFARE - Free Music (1975 -1988) | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Cortizona Heritage
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