Milan is a jazz pianist from Antwerp, Belgium. He won the 2nd prize in the 7VJC Contest 6th edition (2021). In 2015, he was admitted to De! Kunsthumaniora, where he studied jazz piano with Ewout Pierreux. Not much later, in 2016, he plays his first jazz concert. In June 2022, he graduated from the Royal Consevatorium of Antwerp. He is bandleader/co-leader of a number of bands, and is a much sought-after musician and sideman in various projects. He has already played on many small and large stages in Belgium and abroad, including Jazz Middelheim, De Singel, Parco Della Musica (IT), Jazz Performance Hall (USA) and various jazz clubs. Some of his big examples are McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Marcin Wasilewski, Keith Jarrett, Wynton Kelly…. He played with Jakob Bro, Lionel Loueke, Chris Potter, Bert Joris, John Bishop, John Ruocco, Frank Vaganée, among many others.
How did you learn to play? Where did you study?
I started at my 5 years old with playing the accordion (the one with piano keys!) and switched to classical piano at the age of seven. Since my dad’s a double bass player, jazz and music have always been around. We played together from the very beginning when I practiced the accordion. I guess around the Dme I was 11 years old, he explained me the 12-bar Blues structure and occasionally gave me a lead sheet with wriJen out chords and symbols. He helped me with it and we played it together? I wonder what that must have sounded like. At the age of 15 I took private jazz piano lessons with Ewout Pierreux, and when I was 16, in 2016, I continued studies at De Kunsthumaniora, a secondary school for the arts, also with Ewout Pierreux as a piano teacher.
I entered the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp in 2017, when I was 18 years old, and graduated there as a master in music with greatest disDncDon in 2023. At the conservatory, I studied with Erik Vermeulen, Christoph Erbstösser and Nicola Andrioli as a piano teachers. I also got a chance there to play and perform with renowned musicians like Chris PoJer, Lionel Loueke, Jakob Bro, John Ruocco… I’m very thankful for those chances I got.
Who are the musicians that influenced you the most?
Some of my biggest influences are, of course, pianists: Wynton Kelly, Herbie Hancock, Marcin Wasilewski, Cedar Walton, Don Pullen, McCoy Tyner… There are so many. But also some other instrumentalists: Miles and Trane of course, Kenny Wheeler, George Adams, Tomas Stanko…
What are your thoughts and opinions on today’s jazz scene?
Today’s jazz scene is so diverse, so there is something for everyone. And still there are people who say that jazz is not for them? I think they haven’t tried it yet or they only think about one kind of sub-genre they heard! Anyway, what do I think of it? I don’t like all of it, but I think people need to make the kind of music they want to make and I hope they have an audience. The main deal for me is: there needs to be melody and rhythm at some point in a concert, otherwise there’s a big chance I’m not interested.
Can you tell us more about your experience with the 7 Virtual Jazz Club?`
I have already participated in a few Dmes, and I think it’s a great contribution to the current scene. I even won a second prize with my song ‘Milan’s Blues’ in 2022, for which I’m really thankful. I sDll enter the contest because I think it’s good to be ‘out there’ on the contest so more people get to know your music, even if you don’t win. They offer good prizes to the winners.
What are your upcoming projects?
With my trio Verbist/Baars/LagaDe, I’m currently touring in Belgium and planning to go abroad. With my father Piet Verbist, I’m playing in his flamenco-jazz project ‘Flamencology’, and we’re playing three dates in December. Also I’m part of Alexander Baboian’s (USA) quartet, and I have another trio that I’m booking gigs with. Besides these, I have a lot of other sideman-gigs.
