Maurice Charles JJ (Be)

Maurice Charles JJ a.k.a. Jean-Jacques Duerinckx is a musician mostly interested in timbral diversities, unorthodox sounds, sonic pastes and contemporary approaches to music: intuitive by nature, he likes to dwell in a universe crowded with strange sound entities, in which sound becomes matter and matter becomes sound.

He also develops collaborations with other artistic forms, making use of the unique color of the sopranino saxophone. Pneuma 4, the solo piece he created for City Sonic in the context of this Sonic Garden Party, is part of his Mutation cycle, and is composed of a series of sopranino saxophone solos. It makes use of the “live electronics” resulting from an organic and synthetic soundtrack specially created for this occasion.

Practicing the sopranino and baritone saxophones, and influenced by Steve Lacy, Antonny Braxton, John Surman, Hamiet Bluiett, Maurice Charles JJ’s meetings with saxophonists Lol Coxhill and later Michel Doneda were finally decisive – guiding his playing to a world where material sound and abstract melodies coexist and intermingle. Maurice Charles JJ has always been sensitive to the visual arts, he is interested in electro-acoustic music, sound art and particularly to “soundscapes”.

Also influenced by R. Murray Schafer, he collaborates with other forms of artistic expression by contribution with the unique color of his instrument’s own rare vocal qualities which he also uses for his sound creations.