A key figure on Brussels' vibrant alternative music scene, saxophonist Manuel Hermia has built the uniqueness of his artistic universe on the multi-faceted seductions of a powerfully syncretic music that incorporates the libertarian gesture of free jazz, the sophistication of traditional Indian and Middle Eastern music, and the raw sounds of contemporary post-rock. Somewhere between an outpouring of cathartic energy and formal refinement, the tightrope-walking trio he forms with cellist Valentin Ceccaldi and drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq gives a perfect overview of the fertile tension of his music of extremes, based in turn on the friction and fusion of multiple languages invited to melt into the unifying gesture of improvisation.

It's been over 25 years since Moluccan-born Indonesian singer Monica Akihary teamed up with Dutch guitarist and composer Niels Brouwer to found the duo Boi Akih, an indivisible mould of hybrid, travelling ensembles mixing all kinds of world music with different partners every time. Today she presents a new septet, featuring for the first time French musicians Hélène Duret on clarinet and Fanny Meteier on tuba and voice, for a music skilfully blended both in its sound textures, mixing acoustic and electronic instruments, and in its influences. With her warm, mineral voice, Monica Akihary transforms complex soundscapes combining jazz with a host of European, Indian and Indonesian musical traditions. She is a true enchantress.