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Touring has never only been about the shows.
It’s also about the people you travel with, the small traditions that appear out of nowhere, the landscapes that stay with you, and the moments that no one planned but everyone remembers. Looking back more than twenty years later, Norway still feels like one long story full of music, laughter and unexpected beauty.
Norway. This week in 2003.
One journey. One unforgettable detour.
Three concerts became many more. A concert hall for the European Broadcasting Union. An acoustic set beside a camper van. A breakfast concert on a bridge. A parade and a jam with musicians from different corners of the world.
In between?
Camping sites. Ferries. Mountains. Glaciers. Birthdays. Toy Viking helmets. Chess games. Wildflowers picked on the roadside. Beer that was… memorable for reasons beyond the taste. And an inflatable pink rabbit that somehow became part of the adventure.
This week. Different years. Same band. 30 years on stage. Brussels based. Jaune Toujours.
Some weeks are all about summer. Festivals. Roads. Ferries. Train stations. Backstages that are anything but glamorous.
2003 Førde. Norway. Concert halls. Town squares. Breakfast concerts on a bridge. One festival becoming many performances.
2005 Portsmouth. Festival of the Sea. The van. The crew. Another harbour. Another stage.
2007 Couleur Café. Brussels. A special one.
2008 Rudolstadt. Thousands of people. Brass. Movement. A crowd that seemed to stretch to the horizon.
2011 AfroBelBeat begins. A first press shoot with our friends from Gangbé Brass Band. The start of a collaboration that would lead to concerts, recordings and lasting friendships.
2023 Fusion Festival. Lärz. From hauling every case to the station...to unpacking them again in a truck that doubled as backstage. The glamorous side of touring.
2024 The final mixes for Vertigo. One step closer.
2025 Mechelen. Ottertrotter. Funny faces backstage. Brass on stage. Thirty years of stories. And somehow, we’re still making new ones.
Different places. Same week, stretched across time. We don’t archive the past. We carry it. Still playing. Still moving. Still open to the next room.
One more thing…
We realised Norway in 2003 deserved more than a couple of slides. There were simply too many beautiful views, strange adventures and wonderfully ridiculous moments to squeeze into this carousel.
So this weekend, we’re taking you back to Førde for a special photo diary.
On Shore, 3’Ain’s most played radio track
Have you heard it yet?
"...Ils avaient enregistré un premier album en 2023, Sea of Stories, que nous avions applaudi dans ces pages. Et nous applaudissons tout autant ce deuxième, Unland. En anglais, un unland est une terre inoccupée, comme en allemand c'est « une terre inculte » ou plutôt « pas encore viabilisée ». Et 3'Ain les investit ces terres, avec ses musiques rêvées, improvisées, cinématographiques, intenses et intimes à la fois. Le trio nous raconte des histoires sans frontières qu'on écoute, attentifs, fascinés, séduits."
“…They had recorded their debut album in 2023, *Sea of Stories*, which we had praised in these pages. And we are just as enthusiastic about this second album, *Unland*. In English, an ‘unland’ is unoccupied land; in German, it is ‘uncultivated land’ or, rather, ‘land not yet developed’.” And 3’Ain settles on these lands with their dreamlike, improvised, cinematic music – intense and intimate at the same time. The trio tells us stories without borders, which we listen to attentively, fascinated and captivated.”
Three stars for Album Unland from Le Soir!
Thank you Jean-Claude Vantroyen and Le Soir for this review of our Unland Album!
► Read the full article (in French) HERE or click on the PDF on the right.
“Humour is when you laugh anyway.”
Kali Som is a Roma traditional that Mec Yek has made its own over the years. A song of wit, resilience and irresistible rhythm.
This recording comes from ChouXS-Fest, one of those magical moments when live music found its way back outdoors.
We’ll be back on stage for three concerts this summer:
Groot Verlof | Leuven | 10 July | 21:15
https://www.facebook.com/events/944002691978544
Escales Estivales | Anderlecht | 23 July | 19:00
https://www.facebook.com/events/1505666381602999/1505666408269663
Plazey | Koekelberg | 29 August
More music. More dancing. More stories.
Turn the sound up.
A letter arrived in our letterbox that left us completely speechless…
thank you so much for listening and for your words, Wim Backx…
it warmed our hearts...
"... u bracht in mei van dit jaar een nieuw album uit. Alweer was ik onder de indruk. Dit was alweer een goed album. Deze keer wou ik vermijden dat mijn brief op de lange baan zou geschoven worden. Ik ging aan de slag. In deze brief zal ik trachten te verwoorden waarom uw album mij zo weet te raken. Waarom uw muziek mij zo weet mee te voeren..."
"...You released a new album in May this year. Once again, I was impressed. It was yet another great album. This time, I wanted to make sure my letter didn’t get put on the back burner. So I set to work. In this letter, I’ll try to put into words why your album moves me so deeply. Why your music carries me away so completely..."
We got a letter... a beautiful one! Thank you Wim Backx for your heartwarming Words!
► Read the full blog HERE. (In Dutch)
Thirty years on the road. Some things never get old.
Thank you to everyone who joined Jaune Toujousr at Brosella Festival for the first of their special 30 Years of Jaune Toujours concerts. Sharing the stage with so many friends and guests, seeing old faces and new ones come together. Celebrating three decades of music in Brussels with everyone who came to listen, dance, cheer and celebrate felt pretty special
Next stop: Trefpunt Festival at Gentse Feesten on 17 July.
Another 30 Years of Jaune Toujours celebration.
Another stage full of guests.
Some familiar faces, some new ones (!)
See you in Ghent?
Beautiful pictures by @shamrockraver
plus one very special final bow captured by Lula Maris
"Met de titel verwijst het trio onrechtstreeks naar een fictieve bestemming waar iedereen welkom zou zijn. ‘Unland’ is de soundtrack voor de reis en de aansluitende aankomst.
Openingstrack ‘Nachtschade’ klinkt als een aankondiging wanneer na een uitputtende tocht het einddoel in zicht is. Trompettist Yamen Martini creëert in de kenmerkende stijl van Ibrahim Maalouf met de typische kwarttonen een grootse ruimte die hoop en optimisme weerspiegelt. Alles speelt zich af in slow motion. De partituur is een stijloefening waarbij Arabische maqam (het melodieuze aspect) en westerse patronen (de harmonieën) elkaar kruisen...."
"With the title, the trio indirectly refers to a fictional destination where everyone would be welcome. ‘Unland’ is the soundtrack for the journey and the subsequent arrival.
The opening track ‘Nachtschade’ sounds like an announcement when, after an exhausting journey, the final destination is in sight. Trumpeter Yamen Martini, in the characteristic style of Ibrahim Maalouf with his signature quarter-tones, creates a vast space that reflects hope and optimism. Everything unfolds in slow motion. The score is an exercise in style in which Arabic maqam (the melodic aspect) and Western patterns (the harmonies) intersect...."
Thank you Georges Tonla Briquet and Jazzenzo.nl for this warm review about our new album Unland!
► Read the article by clicking HERE.
This week. Different years. Same band. 30 years on stage. Brussels based. Jaune Toujours.
Some weeks are about festivals. Others are about the roads between them. And sometimes, they’re about everything that happens around the music.
2001 Brussels. Fête de la Musique. A stage on the Grand Place. A concert on in a harbour. Black-and-white memories of long summer evenings.
2005 Brussels. Café Belga. An audience close enough to sing along.
2009 Fusion Festival. Lärz. A stage called Datscha. A handwritten setlist. A crowd gathering as night falls.
2010 Brussels. The press conference for the Belgian, Spanish and Hungarian EU Trio Presidency. Music. Dance. Journalists. Cameras. An accordion and a megaphone finding their place in the middle of it all.
2013 Recording Routes. Studio jokes. Studio concentration. Friends from Gangbé Brass Band joining the sessions.
2015 Luxembourg. A stage selfie before the show. Brussels. Bal Moderne. A dance floor where everyone was invited.
2023 MillMash Festival. Wezemaal. Another summer stage. Another crowd. Another chapter.
Different years. Different audiences. Different reasons to play. Still making music. Still crossing borders. Still collecting stories.
Different places. Same week, stretched across time. We don’t archive the past. We carry it. Still playing. Still moving. Still open to the next room.