Tristan Driessens & Simon Leleux – Oud & Doholla double concert

Tristan Driessens & Simon Leleux

Oud & Doholla double concert

In March 2023, Tristan Driessens released his first solo album Lahza (A Glimpse), presenting a series of improvisations played on the oud. The album was published by the Iranian label Mahoor Institute of Culture and Arts and reveals a different side of Tristan Driessens as an oud player. Whereas he has emerged as a prolific creator and artistic director of several large line-ups over the past decade, with ‘A Glimpse’, he takes a new route only accompanied by his faithful oud. With a multi-facetted concert program consisting of modal improvisations, classical works as well as his own compositions, the oud player reflects on the many routes he has travelled since his childhood, from his first encounter with the oud through Sufism and Andalusian music to his journey to the centers of makam and other Eastern music traditions – Crete, Istanbul, Bagdad and Samarkand – where the great masters transmit their legacies.

Simon Leleux released his first solo album (‘Letter to Levent’) in 2021, as a presentation of a research he leads on his main instrument, Doholla. Focusing on the multitude of sounds one single skin offers, the album shows excerpts of this journey that leads him to soloing on stage.

Based on improvisation and spontaneity, the whole album is dedicated to his Master, Levent Yildirim. For years, he guided Simon through the art of playing Doholla, and the values accompanying such a journey, such as honesty and dedication.

Biography

Simon Leleux is a Belgium-based percussionist specialising in doholla,  darbuka and other Arab and Middle Eastern percussion instruments and  styles.  Shaped like a tumbler, the darbuka, whose traditions are as  diverse as the refined ways it can be played, provided the starting  point for Simon’s percussion journey and his interest in many other  instruments, including frame drums, tombak, riqq, and drum kits.

Having trained with masters such as Ahmet Misirli, Zohar Fresco, Pedram  Khavarzamini, Madjid Khaladj, Niti Ranjan Biswas and Azzedine Jazouli,  Simon has focused on studying the doholla (bass darbuka) since 2014 with  the musician who broke new ground with this instrument, Levent  Yildirim. Following Yildirim’s philosophy, Simon’s work with doholla has  lead him to a soloistic and melodic approach to the instrument.

Apart from his solo, Simon is a founding member of two other projects, Spëcht (ex- Hands in Motion), and Auster Loo. Simon has also had the privilege of sharing the stage with many  other celebrated artists including Fabrizio Cassol, Kudsi Erguner, Ross  Daly, Ibrahim Maalouf, Khaled Alhafez, Tcha Limberger, Claron McFadden, Ugur Önür, Ghalia Benali…

In addition to performing, Simon currently teaches at the Brussels world  music academy, MuziekPublique, as well as Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He studied pedagogy from Namur Conservatory in 2013 and Turkish and Indian percussion at Rotterdam Conservatory (Codarts – Master of Music) which he gratuated with High Distinction.