TaxiWars

Bio

TaxiWars were born in Belgium in 2014 and are the result of the collaboration between dEUS frontman, Tom Barman, and Belgian saxophonist Robin Verheyen, that were joined by Nicolas Thys (bass)and Antoine Pierre (drums).

Tom Barman. Tom, born in 1972, is the leader of the rock band dEUS since 1989 with which he sold more than a million records thanks to a unique style characterized by an eclectic fusion of rock, punk, blues, and jazz.

Barman, besides his love for music, cultivates a big interest in cinematography which brought him to direct, besides dEUS’s music videos and a short film titled Turnpike (1996), the film Any Way the Wind Blows, which thanks to his soundtrack became a cult among cinema aficionados.

Robin Verheyen. Saxophonist Robin Verheyen moved to New York as a student and built a reputation for himself as one of the most interesting young talents in jazz and classical music. He played with artists the likes of Marc Copland, Ravi Coltrane, Narciso, Gary Peacock, and Joey Baron.

Nicolas Thys. Bassist Nicolas Thys at this point is a stable pillar in the Flemish jazz scene and toured or recorded with legends like Lee Konitz, Mal Waldron, Toots Thielemans, and Zap Mama.

Antoine Pierre. Pierre, born in 1992, is the youngest member of TaxiWars, in addition to being a key figure of URBEX and Next.Ape. After graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, he established himself on the jazz scene in no time, and in 2020 he was invited to the resident artist at the Brussels Jazz Festival.

TaxiWars, after their first eponymous album TaxiWars (2015), in 2016 published Fever. The album structure was described by the Financial Time as «a structure and a vocal style of a typical rock song, even if in the opaque variety preferred by dEUS. But, prompted by a jazz engine», which perfectly encases the multilayered influences of which the unique and magnetic style of the band is comprised.

In their last album Artificial Horizon (2019), preceded by the release of the eponymous track “Artificial Horizon”, the Belgian group showed  great energy, awareness, pride, and ambition, besides a certain kind of punk approach that in some ways makes them stand out in the lavish jazz scene due to Verheyen’s intense melodic lines and Barman’s tormented lyrics.

The record was presented in Italy in 2019 at JAZZMI in Milan and for the occasion Taxiwars brought, besides their third project, a selection of their greatest hits.

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