Book of Air

 
Stijn Cools plays drums and composes in a wide range of styles, preferably linked to improvised music. He works as a sound designer/electronic musician, and he plays the drums as well as many eastern percussion instruments. Experimenting with rhythm and sound, and the interest in clear artistic concepts are great sources for his artistic development. His diploma in architecture and scenography makes an important contribution to his thinking and developments in the musical field. Recently Stijn also started to dedicate himself to audio production (recording/mixing/mastering). In 2009 he won the “Gent Jazz talent prize”, in 2010 the “Toots Thielemans Jazz Award” at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. In the Summer of 2016, he won another Gent Jazz prize with the band Hoera, on behalf of the Gent Jazz Festival. Together with his brother Bert Cools, Stijn founded the art platform and art production house Granvat on www.granvat.com. With Granvat they created a house for their projects and collaborations with fellow artists. It also contains work by internationally respected artists: Hariprasad Chaurasia, Solo Sissoko, Eyvind Kang. Stijn Cools is the composer and co-founder of the Book of Airseries.

Bert Cools speaks music from his childhood with the guitar as medium and driving force. He receives the Dutch Erasmus Award for “best musician” (2010) and graduates cum laude at the conservatory in Rotterdam. With the band Hoera. they won the Gent jazz price in 2016. In addition to composing for various projects, Bert performs concerts all over the world (India, Mexico, NY, Europe, China, Taiwan, Japan etc.) with his own bands and projects (Merope, Hoera., Book of Air Vvolk & Fieldtone, JK's Kamer).
 
 Book of Air - Se (in) de bos (vinyl LP)
2018
Sub Rosa
Initiated from the Book of Air project, Vvolk is one of the only acoustic ambient orchestras in the world.. Composed of 18 musicians led by brothers Stijn and Bert Cools, the orchestra is known for it's whole night laying down concert. This album, the third in the“Book of Air series”, is a slow paced 60 minute piece composed by Stijn Cools.
 Book of Air - Se (in) de bos (CD)
2018
Sub Rosa
Initiated from the Book of Air project, Vvolk is one of the only acoustic ambient orchestras in the world.. Composed of 18 musicians led by brothers Stijn and Bert Cools, the orchestra is known for it's whole night laying down concert. This album, the third in the“Book of Air series”, is a slow paced 60 minute piece composed by Stijn Cools.
 Book of Air - Vvolk (vinyl LP)
2016
Sub Rosa
Second in the Book of Air series, this recording is performed by vvolk, a group of 18 improvisers who explore the relation between time and motion: How is the perception of sound influenced by time? How do we relate to time in music as improvising performing musicians?
 Book of Air - Vvolk (CD)
2016
Sub Rosa
Second in the Book of Air series, this recording is performed by vvolk, a group of 18 improvisers who explore the relation between time and motion: How is the perception of sound influenced by time? How do we relate to time in music as improvising performing musicians?
 Book of Air - Fieldtone (2 vinyl LP)
2016
Sub Rosa
Book of Air is a series of bundled compositions exploring the parameters of sound and time. Their first reseale Fieldtone is a beautiful “acoustic ambient” / dark jazz four-tracks recording inspired by the musicality and silence of nature.


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