It all began with a handful of musicians (Charles Loos, Michel Herr, Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Paolo Radoni, and a few others) who simply wanted Belgian jazz to have a place on the map. Fifty years later, Les Lundis d’Hortense are organizing a week of concerts, open-mic nights, and jam sessions to mark the occasion, from September 30 to October 4, 2026, in Brussels.
The program spans five iconic venues on the Brussels jazz scene: the Jazz Station, Flagey, the Toots Jazz Club, Le Senghor, and Le Marni. In a departure from the norm, an organ concert will also take place atthe Notre-Dame aux Riches-Claires Church on Sunday, October 4, at 4 p.m., featuring Lilly Joel performing her program *Sibyl Of The Rhine*.
What’s on the program
On Wednesday, September 30, the Jazz Station kicked off the festivities with a double concert: Alain Pierre paid tribute to Ralph Towner and Marilyn Mazur, followed by a “carte blanche” performance by Manolo Cabras titled *La danza del suono*.
On Thursday, October 1, Flagey hosted a daytime screening (5:15 p.m., Studio 5) of the film *Just Friends* (1992), introduced by Alexandre and Marc-Henri Wajnberg. That evening (8:00 p.m., Studio 4), Nathalie Loriers took the stage for a carte blanche performance, followed by a world premiere by the Belgian Jazz Ensemble featuring Tutu Puoane. The night then continued at the Toots Jazz Club with a late-night jam session led by Lorenzo Di Maio.
On Friday, October 2, Le Senghor will host Charles Loos and Eric Legnini—Growlin’ Faces—as well as a “carte blanche” performance by Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, one of the association’s founding members. This will be followed by a late-night jam session at Toots Jazz Club with Erik Vermeulen.
On Saturday, October 3, Le Marni will fea , Aka Moon & Guests in *Take the Coltrane* —a piece by Duke Ellington, a rare jazz giant who recorded legendary albums with both Sinatra and Armstrong— accompanied by Bodem, followed by a late-night jam session at Toots with Ornella Noulet. To fully explore this connection , La Tricoterie is presenting a tribute to Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong that same evening (6 p.m. and 8 p.m.), as a side event to the festival.
The celebration doesn’t stop in Brussels: a series of double concerts will follow in the fall and winter in Lasne, Namur, and Hamme-Mille, featuring a unique collaboration as part of the Belgian Music Days.
The full lineup and tickets are available on the Lundis d’Hortense website.
