Belgian pianist Ivan Paduart discovered jazz when he was 17. A masterclass with Michel Herr (then pianist with Toots Thielemans) convinced him to pursue jazz full-time and in 1988, after six months at Antwerp's jazz-studio, and one year at Rotterdam's Royal Conservatory (where he studied with Rob Van Kreeveld), he joined the groups of American guitarist John Thomas, Italian trumpet player Gino Lattuca and Belgian trombone player Phil Abraham.
In 1989 he won the 2nd prize at "International Jazz Competition at La Défense" in Paris, and 1st prize at "Brussels's Jazz-Rallye". That same year Ivan formed the quintet Aftertouch, to play original fusion music. From 1990 to 1992 he toured Europe with his own group, played support for Bill Evans and recorded three albums. With his compositional mix of straight-ahead jazz and lyrical impressionism spiced with Latin influence he was awarded the 1993 Nicolas Dor prize for composition at the International Jazz Festival of Liège. In 1995, after tours of Italy and Canada, Ivan began a two-year international stint with Toots Thielemans. From 1996 onwards, the focus becomes almost exclusively the trio format with Hans Van Oosterhout as regular drummer and a variety of bass-players. He recorded his first cd’s with Challenge Records “White Nights” and "Clair Obscur" (both sold out), followed in 1998 by "Belgian Suites" (AL 73122) The trio occasionally calls on the collaboration of soloists like Rick Margitza or Toots Thielemans, Toon Roos, Bert Joris and Fay Claassen in the double album Live "A night at the Music village" (BMCD 395) in 2003.

Fay Claassen (vocals) Fay recorded her own albums together with many international musicians such as Mike Stern, Kenny Werner, Toots Thielemands, and she was invited as soloist for many CD recordings by the WDR Big Band, Bob Brookmeyers New Art Orchestra, the Millennium Jazz Orchestra and the Danish Radio Big Band.
She cooperated with well known conducters and arrangers such as Jim Mc Neely, Vince Mendoza and Michael Abene. Fay was rewarded with The Golden Record for her double album Two Portraits of Chet Baker. Jazz Times USA wrote about this cd: ’An Astonishing Album’, Down Beat: ‘A mega-production with extremely solo contributions’.
In the Winners Poll of All About Jazz USA the album was proclaimed as ‘Best Vocal Album of the Year’. Moreover, for other albums Fay received a Grammy longlistnomination and an Edison Award. In 2011 her succesfully cd SING! with the WDR Big Band and the WDR Rundfunk Orchester conducted and arranged by Michael Abene was presented. As guest soloist Fay was often invited by the Metropole Orkest and Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw. Her effortless skill of improvisation not only brought her on stages in Europe, but also in Japan, China and the U.S.A.

Jean´Toots´ Thielemans (1922 - 2016) was born in Brussels, Belgium. He immigrated to the USA in 1952. At the age of three he could already play the accordion and started playing harmonica as a hobby. Toots was `hooked´ on Jazz during German occupation and his first big idol was Django Reinhardt.
Another early influence was Charlie Parker. The first international breakthrough was him joining Benny Goodman on European concert tour in 1950. Other early US jobs: member of Charlie Parker's All Stars in Philadelphia; George Shearing Quintet; ...
Thielemans once started his career as a guitar player. In 1949 he joined a jam session in Paris with Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach and others. It all started there: after tje jam session in Paris he participated in European tours with Benny Goodman, making his first record in Paris with fellow band member, tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims. A year later he became a band member of the singer-songwriter and compatriot Bobbejaan Schoepen (at the time still as a guitarist). He moved to the US where he was a member of Charlie Parker's All-Stars and worked with Miles Davis and Dinah Washington. He played and recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Jaco Pastorius, Peggy Lee, The George Shearing Quintet, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, The Happenings, Astrud Gilberto, Shirley Horn, Elis Regina and others.
A jazz standard composed by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette" where he used whistling and guitar in unison. It was first recorded by Toots, now 50 years ago, with lyrics added by Norman Gimbel the song became a major worldwide hit. His harmonica playing can also be heard in film scores such as Midnight Cowboy, Jean de Florette, Sugarland Express, The Yakuza, Turkish Delight, The Getaway, French Kiss, Dunderklumpen, and in various TV programs, including Sesame Street, the Belgian TV series Witse, and the Dutch TV series Baantjer. He composed the music for the 1974 Swedish film Dunderklumpen! in which he also voiced the animated character Pellegnillot. His whistling and harmonica playing can be heard on Old Spice radio and TV commercials that have been made over the years.
During the 80's Toots performed with bassist and composer/bandleader Jaco Pastorius in ensembles ranging from duet to the Word of Mouth Big Band. In the early 80's he contributed to Billy Joel's album An Innocent Man, and his trademark harmonica can be heard on "Leave a Tender Moment Alone." A year later, he appeared on the Julian Lennon song "Too Late For Goodbyes" from the album Valotte. In 1984, he recorded the final album of Billy Eckstine (I Am A Singer), featuring very beautiful ballads and standards arranged and conducted by Angelo DiPippo.
The 90's Thielemans embarked on theme projects that included world music. In 1998 he released a French flavoured album titled "Chez Toots" that included the Les Moulins De Mon Coeur (The Mills of my Heart) featuring guest singer Johnny Mathis. Apart from his popularity as an accomplished musician, he is well liked for his modesty and kind demeanor. In his native Belgium, he is also popular for describing himself as a Brussels "ket", which means "street kid" in old Brussels slang. He received a joint honorary doctorate from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and in 2001 Thielemans was ennobled a baron by King Albert II of Belgium. In 2005 he was nominated for the title of The Greatest Belgian. In the Flemish version he ended 20th place, in the Walloon version he ended 44th place. In October 2008, he was honored with the 2009 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship. On 23 January 2009, he joined Philip Catherine on stage at the Liberchies church (Belgium) in memory of the 100th anniversary of Django Reinhardt's birth.