| Jazz |
Milan Verbist: A Debut from Belgium’s Crossroads of Culture.
Milan Verbist, pianist and composer, arrives from the small but culturally layered kingdom of Belgium with a debut album that feels less like a beginning and more like the confident statement of an artist whose voice has been maturing for years. Belgium, after all, is not one culture but three: a Francophone community, a small German-speaking enclave, and the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, from which Verbist hails. In this corner of the country, classical music holds a particularly honored place in the cultural fabric, and one can hear in Verbist’s work the echoes of Franz Liszt, Erik Satie, Béla Bartók, Bach, and others, though here they seem to merge unexpectedly with the exuberance and swing of Oscar Peterson at his peak.
For those encountering Verbist for the first time, the pleasure is doubled: the discovery not just of a gifted pianist, but of a composer of genuine stature, uncompromising in his vision and unafraid of complexity.
His music can be intricate and imposing, yet never loses its sense of narrative or emotional clarity. A brief look at his background helps explain why. Music was not so much introduced to him as it was woven into his earliest experiences. The son of acclaimed bassist Piet Verbist, Milan grew up in a household where jazz was not merely played but lived. At the age of five he began with the accordion, before turning, at seven, to the piano, the instrument that would become his true voice.
His formal training began at the MaGo Academy, where he studied under classical pianists Arthur Vuye and Nicolas Callot. In 2016, he chose to continue his secondary education at De! Kunsthumaniora in Antwerp, focusing on jazz piano with Ewout Pierreux as his mentor for two years. During this time, he began performing in ensembles and giving concerts, his compositional voice already taking shape. Upon graduation, he entered the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp under the guidance of Erik Vermeulen, studying with an array of notable Belgian and international jazz musicians. By June 2022, he had completed his studies with the institution’s highest honors. Today, Verbist is a sought-after figure on the Antwerp scene and beyond, leading his own piano trio and co-leading several other projects. That same year, his group Cobalt Trio won second place in the prestigious “7 Virtual Jazz Club” competition.
Verbist’s music has a dual nature, much like his native Flanders: dark, deep, and introspective as a rain-swept harbor, yet capable of being luminous, rhythmic, and full of sunshine when the clouds part. The complexity of his work is not a posture but a cultural inheritance. This debut recording represents a new chapter in a career that, by all early signs, was destined for swift ascent. The daily rhythms of his father’s life as a performing musician offered Milan not only inspiration but also an unfiltered apprenticeship, an education in discipline, listening, and the art of collaboration. The result is a trio whose playing is patient yet charged with energy, grounded yet adventurous, and whose maturity belies their years.
Though firmly rooted in the Belgian scene, Verbist’s artistry transcends national boundaries. His influences range from McCoy Tyner, Wynton Kelly, and Thelonious Monk to Herbie Hancock, Marcin Wasilewski, Cedar Walton, Bobo Stenson, and Keith Jarrett. His collaborations already include such luminaries as Lionel Loueke, Jakob Bro, Chris Potter, John Ruocco, Bert Joris, and John Bishop. For a first album, the choice to record in the exacting piano-trio format is a bold one, balance is notoriously difficult to achieve, but here the gamble pays off. If Verbist himself is remarkable, so too are his partners, matching his clarity of thought with an equally daring sense of expression.
This is the arrival not of a promising newcomer but of a fully formed artist, one who carries in his playing the breadth of a cultural heritage, the discipline of classical training, and the unquenchable curiosity of jazz. Belgium may be small, but the scope of Milan Verbist’s music is anything but.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, August 13th 2025
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Musicians :
Milan Verbist – piano
Toon Rumen – double bass
Jens Meijer – drums
Track Listing:
1 Time Change 7:17
2 Bosonossa 7:02
3 No, I Haven’t 6:07
4 Happy House 4:21
5 Brigitte’s Waltz 5:39
6 Sarabande (from BWV 812) 7:26
7 Djeezes 7:00
8 The Silence Between 5:34
9 Flutter Step 7:30
Compositions by Milan Verbist, except: (2) Tomasz Stanko; (4) Ornette Coleman; (6) J.S. Bach; (9) Gary Peacock
Production Info:
Produced by Milan Verbist for Contour vzw
Recorded & mixed by Cyrille Obermüller
Recorded at Rockstar Recordings, Niel, Belgium, on March 5 & 6, 2025
Mastered by Pierre Dozin
Photography by Eddy Westveer
Cover Art: “Wind I” by Laulyt
Cover design & layout by John Bishop