They started up as a kind of temporary marching brassband that wanted to save an abandoned old textile factory in the Flemish town of Kortrijk. But since their start in 2004, they became one of the finest and hottest worldmusic acts from Belgium and France. From an acoustic brassband playing weddings and funerals, they became a wellknown and respected brilliant and energetic liveact playing on famous festivals such as Montreal Jazz, Colour Café, Esperanzah, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Aachen, Paris, Amsterdam,. In October 2011 they released their brand new album 'Total Tajine', a double-CD the band recorded in Novi Sad (Serbia) and where they mix up balkan music, tarantella, reggae, afrobeat with latin american cumbia style. Reviews are great. 'Total Tajine' is more than a record, it became a double album with 28 songs ánd a recipe of an own 'transborder' tajine, with flavours from Flanders, Wallonia and the North of France…
It took quite some time to find the new studio-album of Vetex in the stores, but that has its own reasons. The Orchestre International du Vetex is, as you might know, not a 'normal' band, but more like a boarder crossing collective of about 15 musicians who play a large amount of concerts and so spend a huge part of the time on the road. Since its first concert in april 2004 in the old "Vetex textile factory" in Kortrijk, the band played more than 600 concerts all over the World. From neighbourhood parties in Wazemmes, Beziers or Stasegem to big events and festivals like Couleur Café, la Fête de l'Huma, Dranouter or Esperanzah. From small squares in Sarajevo to the Underground in Prague. From the Olympic Wintergames in Torino to the prestigious jazzfestivals in Nis, Bansko or Montreal. The last two years Vetex also developed itself more and more as a complete stage-act, with the astonishing Bosnian diva Jelena Milusic as a their favourite guestsinger.
For the recording of their third album 'Total Tajine' the Orchestre International du Vetex hidded during 2 weeks in February 2011 to a studio in the Serbian city of Novi Sad. They were confronted with snow, icecold temperatures and rakia. But it was a logical consequence of the collaboration they had for some years with musicians from the Balkans. The songs were finished afterwards in August 2011 in the bloody hot basement of a restaured mansion in Tournai (Belgium) and finally mixed by Vetex-percussionist and Think of One-musician Roel Poriau. The mastering of the record was done by Karel De Backer (Rat & Kabel).
The 28 songs on the new album 'Total Tajine' are all own compositions of the Orchestre International du Vetex, almost all of them composed by the French-Polish-Italian trompetplayer of the band Thomas Morzewski. Then again, saxophone players Lionel Raepsaet and Nathan Daems also delivered some tracks. In 'Total Tajine' the Orchestre International du Vetex strolls once more on their beloved path of excentric and festive brassmusic: Balkan, klezmer and ska, offcourse, but also tarantella, cumbia or reggae… And like always, Vetex keeps some space for melancholia too. 'Total Tajine' also is a brand new recipe of a real tajine, invented by cuisinier Jean-François Damien from Mouscron, right on the frontier between Belgium and France. To taste!
