Jean Demey

Jean Demey (b. 1953) is a Belgian bassist, clarinetist, and percussionist from Brussels, who plays darbouka drums. In the early 1970s, Demey started his career in folk music in Antwerp. Soon he met several jazz musicians, and his artistic priorities changed irrevocably. Jean Demey began playing in a trio with alto saxophonist Mike Zinzen, and formed a few ensembles with Chris Joris, Michel Mast (of X-Legged Sally), and Luc Mishalle. Other notable musicians who collaborated or improvised with Jean Demey include Steve Lacy, Mal Waldron, and Beaver Harris. Around the same time, Demey met an acclaimed lutist Hassan Erraji and started a new group Arabesque (4) with percussionist Pierre Narcisse, dedicated to a study of Arabic and Mid-Eastern music. They recorded several albums with Erraji in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With a growing interest in multicultural cooperation and world music fusion, Jean Demey started working with many outstanding international musicians, such as N'Faly Kouyate from Guinea, Turkish saz player Mahir Tezerdi and his father on bass drum, Italian singer Angelo De Simone, Algerian and Moroccan raï singers Cheb Kader and Cheb Mimoun, and sitarist Yakke Moens. Demey plays regularly in Sureau trio with vocalist Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg and Kris Vanderstraeten on drums. Together with clarinetist Ove Volquartz, Jean Demey organized a few ensembles, including TAG TRIO with Japanese pianist Yoko Miura, which released 5775758 album in 2012, and another trio with French drummer Luc Bouquet – they recorded 6875443 CD in 2014. He also worked extensively with INaudible Collective.