Features
Belgium: Greenhouse Talent Acquires Gent Jazz Festival
Ghent-based concert promoter and booking agency Greenhouse Talent is acquiring the Gent Jazz festival. Talks with the City of Ghent and other stakeholders will start in the upcoming days. More information will follow as soon as these are finalized, according to a press release sent out by Greenhouse Talent today, Jan. 13.
Greenhouse Talent has been one of Belgium’s premier concert and event promoters for more than 17. “A firm foothold in Ghent, a heart for jazz and a sound financial management” make the company the perfect partner to give Gent Jazz Festival “a thriving future.”
The acquisition follows the bankruptcy of non-profit organization Jazz en Muziek vzw, which used to organize the festival. Matthias Gesquière, responsible for the liquidation, commented, “Greenhouse Talent was chosen as a suitable partner on the basis of a thoroughly prepared qualitative offer, its rock-solid reputation, but in particular its commitment to keep all employees on board, the correct acquisition price, its commitment to organize the festival in close collaboration with the City of Ghent, the Bijloke Abbey and the cultural partners involved, and to guarantee the continued existence of the Young Jazz Talent competition in order to give young talent in Ghent a stage.”
Greenhouse Talent’s track record speaks for itself: the company produced the legendary open-air concerts of Prince (2011) and Leonard Cohen (2012) on the Sint-Pieters square in Ghent. Last summer, The Rolling Stones took over the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, and Rammstein performed twice at Park De Nieuwe Koers in Ostend.
In addition, Greenhouse Talent includes several bookers with a heart for jazz and related genres, such as world music, contemporary classical, R&B, blues and film scores. A few names on the roster: Herbie Hancock, Thundercat, Fatoumata Diawara, Diana Krall, Gregory Porter, Julian Lage, Colin Stetson, Bill Frisell, Wynton & Branford Marsalis, Marc Ribot, Lakecia Benjamin, Ludovico Einaudi, Kamasi Washington, Theo Croker, DOMi & JD Beck, The Cinematic Orchestra, Roberto Fonseca, Dianne Reeves, Somi, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, James Brandon Lewis, Harold Lopez-Nussa, Marco Mezquida, Ibrahim Maalouf, Seun Kuti and many more.
The line-up, timing, ticket prices and all other practical information around this year’s Ghent Jazz Festival will be shared as soon as talks between Greenhouse Talent, the city of Ghent and other stakeholders have been completed.