Quentin Dujardin - Distances

Born in Dinant (Belgium) in 1977, Quentin Dujardin entered the world of classical music very early with his father, who was an unconditional fan of organ music (Bach, Franck, Messiaen, Duruflé, etc.). Quentin was a faithful student at the local music school where he studied guitar, music theory, music history and chamber music.

The discovery in his father’s mostly classical music library of an album by Philip Catherine, the famous Belgium jazz guitarist was a pivotal moment for Quentin. His serious exploration into jazz began at the age of 15. He studied improvisation with Pierre van Dormael who remains an important influence on him in this area. After various internships with musicians such as Nathalie Loriers and Kris Defoort he quickly made up his mind to continue his education at the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Brussels. By now aged 17, his musical encounters increased and it was here that he met Karl van Deun, Fabien Degryse and Diederik Wissels. It was with the latter that five years later he recorded his first album entitled La Fontaine de Gore named after the street he was brought up on. Graduating in jazz en light music, he continued a further year to study film music composition with Dirk Brossé at the Ghent Conservatory.

After years of study, Quentin Dujardin now travels with his classic guitar. From Gnawas (Morocco) to Andalucian Gypsies (Spain) passing by Vezos (Madagascar) or even Guaranis (Paraguay), his way of life connects this movement to delicate production based on listening and mixing sounds from around the world. In this way Quentin Dujardin gives himself the pleasure of accumulating experiences with the same rigor: total devotion to his art. Thus, to discover the range of this guitarist remains a unique experience for everyone because the roads that lead you to him may be many. Yet there remains something immutable that touches and marks his world of the guitar with an indelible imprint: sound and emotion.

So within the world music audience he gained recognition for his album Khamis, produced by RTBF (National Belgian Radio & Television) and Didier Mélon, which recounted his life of travel and his initial encounter with the Moroccan singer and violinist Jalal El Allouli. The enthusiasm that met this album allowed him to perform internationally in venues such as Marrakesh' Théâtre Royal, the Esperanzah Festival, Quebec’s Théâtre Capitole, Jazz en Nord, Flagey, Nanduti de Paraguay, etc.The guitarplayer has also been very active on the Belgian jazz scene with his previous two albums La Fontaine de Gore and Vivre in which he worked alongside Diederik Wissels and Ivan Paduart, as well as for his work with Toots Thielemans on his album Impressionniste.

Guitarist Magazine referred to him stating, "This artist is a sumptuous invitation to voyage."

His artistic generosity also finds expression in the more discreet activity of writing and composing in contexts other then his own album production. He worked on the soundtrack for the theatrical adaptation of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s novel Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran; on the original soundtrack for the TV campaign Answer the Call, a benefit fund for the families of New York City fireman policemen; for the Kaos string quartet on the occasion of the Spanish Presidency of the European Union; and for various RTBF commissions such as the Mais où est le camera? He has also as well remixed the lounge compilations Salon Oriental Vol. 3 & 4 brought out on EMI France and M10 and worked as a producer for Brunoise, a project by Argentinean artist, Nicolas Pirillo.

He has worked (studio/live) in collaboration with a long list of artists, including Bai Kamara Jr., Lee Townsend, Marc Vella, Jacques Stotzem, Njava, Toots Thielemans, Nicolas Fiszman, Proshely, Jalal El Allouli, Ivan Paduart, Manu Katché, Prakash Kandasamy, Remanindry, Hamza M'raihi, Tuur Florizoone, Goran Milosevic, Abdelah Gynea, Thierry Van Roy, Philippe Aerts, Volker Biesenbender, Didier Laloy, Marlène Dorcena and Abaji. Since 2003 he has performed more than 350 concerts throughout Belgium and internationally (France, Spain, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Madagascar, Morocco, Canada, Paraguay, Estonia,etc.).

In 2008, The French director, Freddy Mouchard made a documentary movie Sur le Chemin (77:00) about his way of living music around the world. The movie was selected by the Worldfilm Festival 2009 of Tartu (Estonia) and the Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen de Bruxelles 2008. His album Veloma is the original soundtrack from the movie.

1 Corsica 5:00
2 Condroz 4:57
3 Un Été Avec Toi 2:52
4 Gaston Gendebien 5:50
5 Ya Bai Miriam (feat. El-Funoun) 4:22
6 Mauve 3:08
7 Papa Rosa 5:18
8 California 3:29
9 Back to Mali 5:22
10 Distances 3:54
11 Saint Fontaine 5:09
12 1977 3:15
13 Bill - Acoustic (Bonus Track) 5:36