Laïs is a

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

group that creates

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

, and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

consisting of polyphonic close harmony songs, occasionally

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

, based on self-composed melodies with lyrics dating back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. "Laïs" is a Celtic word, meaning "voice".

History

Laïs' career started in 1994, when Jorunn Bauweraerts and Annelies Brosens, together with Soetkin Collier (who later became a vocalist with the Belgian folk music group Urban Trad) performed a song at a folk festival in Gooik, near

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Somewhat later, Collier left the group and Nathalie Delcroix joined. They had their breakthrough after their appearance at Folk Dranouter, near

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

, in 1996. Their debut CD album, sung a cappella as well as accompanied instrumentally by the folk rock band

Kadril Kadril is a Belgian folk group formed in 1976 from the then youth and nature movement Wielewaaljongeren. The group name refers to the salon dance Quadrille, transliterated into Flemish as Kwadril or Kadril. History Kadril started with ...

, was released in 1998. They performed at the

Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (Afrikaans for '' Little Karoo National Arts Festival'' and usually abbreviated to ''KKNK'') is an Afrikaans language arts festival that takes place yearly in the South African town of Oudtshoorn. The festival ...

Oudtshoorn Oudtshoorn (, ) is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Dubbed the "ostrich capital of the world", Oudtshoorn is known for its ostric ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

(1996), at Vorst Nationaal, Belgium (1998),

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(1999) (as a supporting act for Sting),

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(1999, 2000), the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(2001). During the summer of 2000 they performed at important festivals in Belgium and the Netherlands, such as

Pinkpop Pinkpop is an annual music festival held in Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. Starting in ...

and

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiva ...

. In 2001 they made a much acclaimed return to the festival at Dranouter. In 2003 they made a mini tour along Flemish churches and chapels, singing a cappella with the vocal support of Ludo Vandeau. This resulted in the CD "A la capella". In April 2004 they released their third CD to the market under the title ''Douce Victime'', with covers from

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

and

Herman van Veen Hermannus Jantinus van Veen (born 14 March 1945) is a Dutch stage performer, actor, author, singer-songwriter and musician. He worked with accompanists Laurens van Rooyen and Erik van der Wurff, both of whom were pianists and composers. In ...

. This time it not only contained a cappella songs but also

Cajun music Cajun music (), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based ...

, the London Chamber Orchestra and some

World Music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

influences. It was recorded at the legendary

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. With their album ''The Ladies' Second Song'', released in September 2007, the group changed their approach and tried to reach a broader public. They could no longer be characterized as

. The album introduces the use of electric guitars, loops and electronic beats. Their lyrics have equally undergone a thorough overhaul. Instead of drawing their lyrics from old Flemish songbooks, they have turned to poetry from

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

and

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

. In 2009 they released the album ''Laïs Lenski'' together with the cellist Simon Lenski. In September 2020, after 25 years of singing together, the group announced the departure of Annelies Brosens. Since then, Nathalie Delcroix and Jorunn Bauweraerts continue to perform as Laïs, together with their musicians.

Members

The female vocal trio part of Laïs are three young women from

Kalmthout Kalmthout () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Kalmthout, Achterbroek, Heide, Kalmthout, Heide, and Nieuwmoer. In 2021, Kalmthou ...

: They are accompanied by four men: * Fritz Sundermann (electric and acoustic instruments,

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

); * Hans Quaghebeur (

squeezebox The term squeezebox (also squeeze box, squeeze-box) is a colloquial expression referring to any musical instrument of the general class of hand-held bellows-driven free reed aerophones such as the accordion Accordions (from 19th-centur ...

es,

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...

, whistle); * Ronny Reuman (percussion); * Bart Denolf (electric and acoustic bass). Laïs has also renewed their band: *Elko Blijweert (guitar); *Bjorn Eriksson (guitar, elektronica); *Jeroen Stevens (drums); *Filip Vandebril (contrabas); * Dan Lacksman (synthesizer, former

Telex (band) Telex was a Belgian synth-pop group formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers, with the intention of "making something really European, different from rock, without guitar—and the idea was electronic music". History In 19 ...

, Dan Lacksman's Alliance, producer) did the mixing at the sound console.

Discography

Albums

* ''Laïs'', ALEA, 1998 * ''Dorothea'', Virgin Music Belgium, 2000 * ''Dorothea ltd. ed.'', Virgin Music Belgium, 2001 * ''A la capella'', Virgin Music Belgium, 2003 * ''Douce victime'', Virgin Music Belgium, 2004 * ''Documenta'' (Compilation), EMI, 2006 * ''The Ladies' Second Song'', 2007 * ''Laïs Lenski'', 2009 (together with the cellist Simon Lenski) * ''Midwinter tales'', Own publication, 2013

Singles

* '' 't Smidje'', ALEA, 1998 * ''De Ballade van Boon'', EMI Belgium, 1999 * ''Dorothea'', Virgin Music Belgium (2000) * ''Le grand vent'', Virgin Music Belgium, 2001 * ''Le renard et la belette'', Virgin Music Belgium, 2002 * ''Rinaldo'' (2004) * ''De Klacht van een Verstoten Minnares'' (2004) * ''Kalima Kadara'' (2005) * ''Qui a Tué Grand'maman'' (2006) * ''Joskesong'' (2007) * ''The Lady's Second Song'' (2007) * ''In de Bleke Winterzon'' (2008)

References

* (missing link) Interview with Dirk Steenhaut, newspaper

De Morgen ''De Morgen'' (; ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium. History and profile ''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meaning "Onwar ...

, 22 September 2007

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lais Belgian folk music groups Dutch-language musical groups from Belgium Kalmthout Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in Belgium Belgian all-female bands