Manu Hermia

As an improviser, composer and explorer of world music, Manuel Hermia also gives free rein to his discourse as a saxophonist and his love of the bansuri. In addition to his studies in saxophone and jazz harmony at the Conservatoire, he has developed a mastery of the bansuri - the North Indian flute. He has also broadened his knowledge of Indian and Arabic music, integrating ragas and maqâms into a holistic approach to music. In general, he gradually integrates into his language all the cultural elements that his journey invites him to integrate. He has also developed his own melodic-harmonic system with his "rajazz" theory, bridging the gap between jazz and ragas, between tonal thinking and a modal approach to music.

PERSONAL MUSIC PROJECTS

Contemporary jazz, classical jazz and contemporary music.

In addition to his many collaborations with jazz musicians, he has created works with a number of artists from diverse cultures: Majid Bekkas (oud and guembri, Morocco), Mamady Keita (Djembe, Guinea), Purbayan Chatterjee (sitar, India), Kheireddine Mkachiche (violin, Algeria), Dhruba Ghosh (sarangi, India), Manou Gallo (bass, Ivory Coast) Guo Gan (erhu, China), Regis Gizavo (accordion, Madagascar), Mokoomba (Zimbabwe), Ben Ngabo (Rwanda), Joao Braga (Brazil), Dobet Gnahoré (vocals, Ivory Coast), Cumali Bulduk (Turkey), Mawaran (vocals, Lebanon) , Yacir Rami (oud, Morocco), Hussein Rassim (oud, Iraq).

He also appears as a guest on a wide range of musical projects with Pierre van Dormael, Fred Wesley, Zap Mama, Didier Laloy, Karim Baggili, Salvatore Adamo, Sttellla, William Sheller, Khadja Nin and many others.

As a composer, he performed and composed for the contemporary circus-dance company Feria Musica for 10 years. He is also working on a series of "Fluid Suites" for solo instruments in contemporary classical music, based on his Rajazz.

TEACHING

He has been teaching jazz saxophone and jazz ensemble at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles since September 2014. He has also initiated an improvisation seminar for classical master students (strings and winds) at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels since January 2016. He gives numerous courses in Belgium (at the AKDT) and abroad (Vietnam, China, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria...).

ASSOCIATIVE LIFE

He has been vice-president of Jeunesses musicales de FWB since 2011, a member of the Sabam Board of Directors since May 2013, a member of the Smart non-profit organization Board of Directors since 2002 (now APMC), president of the Belgian jazz musicians' association "les lundis d'Hortense" from 2003 to 2005 and a director from 2000 to 2014.

AWARDS

• Octave de la Musique in Jazz with Slang in 2005
• Octave de la Musique in Jazz 2011
• Sabam Jazz Award for a confirmed artist 2017

Langue : French