Alex Zhang Hungtai performs live at Le Guess Who? 2024 following the release of his latest album 'Young God's Run Free'. 

About
There is life after Dirty Beaches. Taiwanese-born, Montréal-hailing Alex Zhang Hungtai was born anew after retiring from the project, and, since then, has dived fully into the role of composer. Tinkering with the saxophone, synthesizers, percussion, and piano, Zhang has embraced the free form, focusing on explorations of improvised music, free jazz, and ritualistic music of liminality. On the stage, Hungtai deepens his research into complex psychoacoustics, turning the audiences into students of sound, mouths agape. 

Captured at Pieterskerk Utrecht on Saturday, 9 November 2024.

Audio recording by Lucas Broer; mix by Marc Broer
Photography by Jelmer de Haas

Alex Zhang Hungtai - Live at Le Guess Who? 2024

Frente Abierto featuring Israel Fernández & Lela Soto perform live at Le Guess Who? 2024. 

In the flamenco world, Frente Abierto is presenting new possibilities; by welcoming genres as diverse as metal and ambient into their realm, the music they play takes on a whole new form. Their sound fuses this experimental streak with some of new flamenco’s most powerful singers. This year, the Andalusian group is touring stages alongside Israel Fernández, a cantaor capable of bridging the gap between present and past, and Lela Soto, one of the most promising young voices to emerge from the scene in recent years. Together, they redefine tradition.

Captured at TivoliVredenburg's Ronda on Saturday, 9 November 2024.

Audio recording by Casper Lucas; mix by Marc Broer
Photography by Lisanne Lentink

Frente Abierto feat. Lela Soto - Bambera

Frente Abierto feat. Lela Soto - Alegrías

Frente Abierto feat. Lela Soto - la Caña

Frente Abierto feat. Israel Fernández & Lela Soto - Tientos

Frente Abierto feat. Israel Fernández & Lela Soto - Soleá

Maurice Louca performs 'Fera' with Ayman Asfour live at Le Guess Who? 2024 as part of Chromesthesia, curated by Hannah Elsisi.

Fera is a wild and adventurous new work that Egyptian artist Maurice Louca wrote over a four-year period. Taking its title from the Latin root for the word feral, the album has its origins in a solo set that Louca first developed for a music festival in Italy in 2019; the compositions eventually took their final shape when he recorded them in a Cairo studio in 2024 with a group of longtime collaborators and guests. Hypnotic polyrhythms play a central role on Fera, creating the pulse for a sound that’s rich in acoustic tonality and lively energy. Louca uses custom-made, microtonal guitars to explore nuanced phrasings, and his languid interplay with violin, synthesizer, and other instruments lead to moments of vivid beauty. Fera is some of the most composed and thoughtfully-crafted music Louca has ever made, but of course it’s guided by the dynamic experimentation and collaborative spark that have become central to his work. Look out for the studio album, released via Simsara Records: https://mauricelouca.bandcamp.com/album/bar-y-fera

Captured at TivoliVredenburg's Grote Zaal on Saturday, 9 November 2024.

Composed and arranged by Maurice Louca
Performed by Maurice Louca (Keyboard, electronics, microtonal guitar, lap steel guitar) and Ayman Asfour (violin)
Audio recording by Vera Kraaijkamp; mix by Marc Broer
Photography by Jelmer de Haas

Maurice Louca's Fera with Ayman Asfour - Live at Le Guess Who? 2024



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A Patchwork Woven with Sound - COSMOS & Le Guess Who? - 24 May 2025

Cutting edge Palestinian duo Shabjdeed & Al Nather perform live at Le Guess Who? 2024, featuring two tracks from their momentous debut album Sindibad el Ward, released via BLTNM  Records. 

"Shabjdeed & Al Nather’s deft double-time rapping gets a rapturous response from the bouncing crowd" - CRACK Magazine

Captured at TivoliVredenburg's Ronda on Saturday, 9 November 2024.

Audio recording by Casper Lucas; mix by Marc Broer


Shabjdeed & Al Nather - Nkd Glg

Shabjdeed & Al Nather - Arab Style

On the closing night of Le Guess Who? 2018, Indian Carnatic music pioneer Kadri Gopalnath gave a mesmerizing performance, curated by Shabaka Hutchings. 

About:
Kadri Gopalnath’s life’s work is to incorporate the woodwind instrument into the classic South Indian Carnatic music. To do so, the 69-year-old saxophone maestro single-handedly modified his alto sax and developed inventive playing techniques, recreating the microtones and vocal-like arrangements of orthodox Indian music. It took Gopalnath over twenty years to successfully integrate his instrument into Carnatic music, but the results are stunning; an ecstatic and majestic sound combining the best of both worlds.

Read our in-depth ‘Tracing the Roots’ feature about Kadri Gopalnath: “A lifetime of pioneering Indian Carnatic music”: https://www.leguesswho.nl/news/tracing-the-roots-kadri-gopalnath-a-lifetime-of-pioneering-indian-carnatic-music

Recorded and mixed by Marc Broer on Sunday, 11 November, at TivoliVredenburg’s Grote Zaal during Le Guess Who? 2018. 
Photography by Juri Hiensch.

www.leguesswho.com

Kadri Gopalnath - Part 1

A Celebration of Sound in Utrecht, Netherlands.

"Le Guess Who? proves: music & art can bring us together into a more hopeful future" – The Line of Best Fit

www.leguesswho.com