© Anton Coene
With his quartet ORLANDO, Belgian saxophonist Toine Thys won the prize for best Belgian jazz album in 202. On ‘Betterland‘, his latest album, rather than cascades of notes and fireworks, the four musicians explore sound and space. Some tracks are serious and solemn, while others are imbued with joy and hope. Toine Thys also uses electronics to sample his saxophone, superimpose it and process it over several tracks, a way of opening up the music to wider spaces. Betterlands is a concept album, where the artists imagine a better world.