NOVA feat. Aaron Parks & Jeff Ballard
Photo: André Moustac
- Dates
- 25 – 29 March 2026
- Concerts
- Five nights
- Countries
- BE · DE · NL
01 The story
The story goes back to May 2024. NOVA headlined the international Jazz A Like Machine festival in Luxembourg for an exceptional concert with two prestigious guests: Aaron Parks and Jeff Ballard, standing in for Kit Downes and Antoine Pierre.
The quintet has always remained open to new artistic collaborations and regularly works with top international musicians. This tour brings that Luxembourg encounter back on stage, this time across three countries, from the PBA in Charleroi to the Leuven Jazz Festival.
Two major figures in American jazz, pianist Aaron Parks and drummer Jeff Ballard, join NOVA for a five-concert tour of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands
Leuven Jazz Festival, 29 March 2026. Photo: Geoffrey Meuli
02 Around Elusive
The concerts follow Elusive, NOVA’s album released on Igloo Records in February 2024 and praised by the Belgian and international press.
Recorded by the quintet heard on NOVA LIVE, the album reflects the evolution of Félix Zurstrassen’s writing and the musical chemistry between the five musicians. Jazz Magazine (FR) rated it four stars.
On this tour, its pieces meet two new voices: Aaron Parks on piano and Jeff Ballard on drums, who had already joined the group at the Like A Jazz Machine festival in Luxembourg in May 2024.
03 Five nights
The tour opens on 25 March at the PBA in Charleroi, where Félix Zurstrassen plays in trio with Aaron Parks and Jeff Ballard. NOVA then travels to the Alter Schlachthof in Eupen, Halle 424 in Hamburg and PaRaDoX in Tilburg.
The last night takes place at the Leuven Jazz Festival on 29 March, one of the major dates of the Belgian jazz calendar.
Félix Zurstrassen’s jazz is above all melodic and organic, with shifting and surprising forms that make it a veritable living substance.
04 The quintet
NOVA is an international quintet shaped over time by Félix Zurstrassen alongside some of the most remarkable musicians of their generation: Franco-Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras, Dutch alto saxophonist Ben van Gelder, British pianist Kit Downes and Belgian drummer Antoine Pierre.
Three albums trace the evolution of the project, from a trio to a quartet and finally to a quintet, always open to new artistic collaborations.
