
Instrumental music .. ideal for weddings, receptions, anniversaries, birthdays, neighborhood parties, garden parties, openings, company parties, ...
Extensive repertoire .. from jazz and blues to funk, soul, pop and ballads to sing-alongs. Numbers on request possible.
The trio consists of the twins Suus and Gijs and their father Dries.
Gijs De Maeyer - °21/06/2003 - Tenor and Alto Saxophone
The fingers of little Gijs barely fit on the alto saxophone, when he received his first lessons from Maarten De Splinter. Maarten soon taught him, besides the classical works, the first improvisation techniques. Gijs was an outstanding student of music theory at the Academy of Boom.
The “International Saxfest” in Vienna was his first experience across the borders. Gijs was barely 11 years old. He got the taste for it and followed several music camps such as Jazz We Can and played in numerous occasional ensembles.
At the age of 15 he participated in the VRT competition “Play it hard”. (See here.)
From 2018 Gijs combines the classical alto saxophone with Maarten with jazz on tenor sax with Ruben Valle Elorriaga. Only in 2020-2021 Gijs chooses completely for jazz and goes to Marjan Van Rompay. She successfully prepares him for the entrance exams of the conservatory. In that school year Gijs also graduates (Sint Ritacollege - mathematics sciences) and became Laureate in Lier.
In June 2024, Gijs graduated with great distinction with the diploma "Bachelor in Music" at the Ghent Conservatory KASK. There he was taught by Bart Defoort, among others.
Through an Erasmus project and entrance exams at the KUG in Graz (Austria), he will start his first Master in Jazz there from September 2024 to February 2025. Gijs will receive saxophone lessons from the famous Julian Argüelles and clarinet and flute from Heinrich von Kalnein.
Gijs is a permanent member of the contemporary dixieland group Dixie 6.
He also regularly plays with big bands, such as Boom Big Band, Marc Godfroid's big band, the VRT big band and the big band of the Conservatory.
Gijs was also a committed leader at the Scouts group 92nd and he plays the clarinet at the Royal Harmonie Rupelzonen.
Suus De Maeyer - °21/06/2003 – Drums, percussion
As a child, Suus asked Santa for a "recorder with a baroque bore". He was also a top student in music theory. Before he was allowed to hit a drum, Walter De Kunst taught him how to hold drumsticks in his grandfatherly way. A good foundation. After that, he had many inspiring percussion teachers at the Academy of Boom.
Just like his twin brother, Suus participated in music camps, including at the Singel in Antwerp and at Jazz We Can. Suus plays and has played in numerous occasional ensembles.
During his last years at the Academy of Boom he followed a specialization trajectory: deepening in percussion with Jonathan Beyers (including Symphony Orchestra Flanders), jazz drum with Tijl Piryns, advanced music theory with Mitchel Wolput and composition with Gijs' first saxophone teacher: Maarten De Splenter. There he wrote his first composition for harmony orchestra at the age of 17: About A River. This work received rave reviews in a digital version from the jury of "the European Music Festival for Young People" in Pelt. Due to the corona crisis, it could only have its world premiere on November 5, 2021. It was performed by the Royal Harmonie Rupelzonen, where Suus also plays percussion.
Suus' versatility is made clear with his band Rehash. With this punk band he played in 2024 in the AB in Brussels and made it to the semi-finals of Humo's Rock Rally. This together with his classical music and jazz complete the entire musical spectrum.
In May 2021 he passed the entrance exams of the conservatory and a month later he graduated from SJI (mathematics sciences).
In June 2024, Suus will graduate with great distinction with the diploma "Bachelor in Music" at the Ghent Conservatory KASK. There he received jazz drum lessons from Toon Van Dionant, among others.
During that period he also passed the entrance exams of the Erasmus Master at Musikene in San Sebastian (Spain). There he will start his Master's degree from September 2024 to February 2025. He will be taught by Jo Krause, among others.
Suus was also a scout leader at the 92nd and holds several athletics records at AVKA.
Besides percussion, Suus also plays piano, trumpet, guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, ...
Dries De Maeyer - °09/08/1970 - Bass guitar
Dries comes from the original Mortsel formation: “De Plakband”. There he played with David Bovée, Tom Theuns, Mark Willems (dUES), Wim De Wilde (Noordkaap), Wim Helsen and many others ...
After some wanderings through the Ghent blues (including Blues on the Road) and folk world (including Almost Folk), he ended up in a part of France with little electricity. The amplified bass riffs went on the back burner. Back in Belgium he played with numerous occasional groups and cover bands (including Whispering Wind, The Dixi's, The Backyard Crashers, Clean Shirt). He is currently also active with Yapa3 and Decent Groove.
In terms of bass playing, he has completely converted to the 5-string, under the motto: “low tones have deep roots”. He has a phobia of insensitive, distant picks and failed guitarists who do not choose the warmest instrument under the sun out of feeling. Nowadays, Mr. Fret is regularly pushed aside for an acoustic fretless 5-footer. Maybe tandless is the next phase?
Besides bass guitar, Dries also plays guitar, mandolin, harmonica ...
History
After the attacks in 2016, they didn't want to hide away in fear. They mounted a drum kit on a pallet, put on a hat and went to various public places to cheer people up with recognizable tunes. Often a large circle of random passers-by formed around the trio. Niveau Chapeau was born.
After the hard school of street musicians, they have grown into a much sought-after band for weddings, receptions, anniversaries, birthdays, neighborhood parties, garden parties, openings, company parties, etc.
On October 19, 2018, they received the Culture Prize for music from the municipality of Rumst. See also in these newspaper articles:
GVA 25/10/2018 and GVA 26/04/2018.
Because Suus, Gijs and Dries belong to the same family, they were almost the only ensemble that could continue to rehearse during the corona lockdowns. During this period, many jazz standards were added to the repertoire. They also played several online concerts.
In June 2021, Suus and Gijs passed the entrance exam of the Jazz department of various conservatories. In September 2021, they will start their studies at the conservatory in Ghent.
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Characteristics Niveau Chapeau
- Music genre band
All-round
Ambiance
Latin (Salsa, ...)
Jazz
Tribute and showbands
Activities Niveau Chapeau
- Activity regions:
- Antwerpen | Vlaams-Brabant [+Brussel] | Oost-Vlaanderen | West-Vlaanderen | Limburg | Henegouwen | Luik | Luxemburg | Namen | Waals-Brabant [+Bruxelles] | Flevoland | Friesland | Gelderland | Groningen | Limburg | Noord-Brabant | Noord-Holland | Overijssel | Drenthe | Utrecht | Zeeland | Zuid-Holland | Belgium | France | Germany | Netherlands | Yvelines | Yonne | Vosges | Paris | Vienne | Vendée | Vaucluse | Var | Val d'Oise | Val-de-Marne | Tarn-et-Garonne | Tarn | Somme | Seine-Saint-Denis | Seine-Maritime | Seine-et-Marne | Savoy | Sarthe | Saône-et-Loire | Pyrénées-Orientales | Pyrénées-Atlantiques | Puy-de-Dôme | Rhône | Pas-de-Calais | Orne | Oise | North | Nièvre | Moselle | Morbihan | Meuse | Meurthe et Moselle | Mayenne | Marne | Manche | Maine-et-Loire | Lozère | Lot-et-Garonne | Lot | Loir-et-Cher | Loiret | Loire-Atlantique | Loire | Landes | Jura | Isère | Indre-et-Loire | Indre | Ille-et-Vilaine | Hérault | Hauts-de-Seine | Haut-Rhin | Haute-Vienne | Hautes-Pyrénées | Haute-Savoie | Haute-Saône | Hautes-Alpes | Haute-Marne | Haute-Loire | Upper Garonne | Upper Corsica | Gironde | Gers | Gard | Finistère | Eure-et-Loir | Eure | Essonne | Drôme | Doubs | Dordogne | Deux-Sèvres | Creuse | Côtes-d'Armor | Cote d'Or | South Corsica | Corrèze | Cher | Charente-Maritime | Charente | Cantal | Calvados | Bouches-du-Rhône | Territoire de Belfort | Bas-Rhin | Aveyron | Aude | Aube | Ariège | Ardennes | Ardèche | Alpes-Maritimes | Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | Allier | Aisne | Ain | Bruxelles-Capitale | Thuringia | Schleswig-Holstein | Saxony-Anhalt | Saxony | Saarland | Rheinland-Pfalz | North Rhine-Westphalia | Lower Saxony | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Hesse | Hamburg | Bremen | Brandenburg | Berlin | Bavaria | Baden-Württemberg
- Activities:
- Street Theatre | Live Bands
Level Chapeau ideal for all your parties!
As a former street puppeteer, I know that if you want to get viewers and listeners on board,
you should already radiate the enthusiasm and the joy of partying from yourself.
Level-Chapeau has it all: youthful enthusiasm, speed, twinkling eyes and charm.
And all this based on an excellent musical quality of each of the members.
Spicy, infectious and young.
What else can an organizer of a festive event expect?
show original
nlNiveau Chapeau ideaal voor al uw feesten !
Als oud-straatpoppenspeler weet ik dat als je kijkers en toehoorders mee wil krijgen,
het enthousiasme en de feestvreugde alvast van jezelf af moeten stralen.
Niveau-Chapeau heeft het allemaal: jeugdige begeestering, vaart, pretogen en bekoring.
En dat alles stoelend op een uitstekende muzikale kwaliteit bij elk van de leden.
Pittig, aanstekelijk en jong.
Wat kan een organisator van een feestelijk gebeuren nog meer verwachten?