Non-Aligned Sessions: Navarro/Barkatsas/Damianidis/Škorić

The Brussels-based quartet brings together four musicians whose shared language is improvisation and free jazz. Drawing from backgrounds in Panama, Greece, and Serbia, they create music that thrives on openness, and communication. Aquiles Navarro (trumpet), known from Irreversible Entanglements, shapes the group’s sound with his bold tone and years in New York’s creative scene. Giotis Damianidis (baritone guitar) grounds the music in raw rhythm and electric texture, informed by his experience in European improvised circles. Aleksandar Škorić (drums) drives the ensemble with a balance of pulse and unpredictability, blending Balkan rhythm with the freedom of the avant-garde. Manos Barkatsas (guitar) adds harmonic depth and electronic detail, expanding the group’s sound with sensitivity and restraint. Together they form a living conversation — spontaneous, exploratory, and deeply rooted in the tradition of free improvisation.

Aquiles Navarro (Canada / Panama, based in Brussels) – Trumpet Aquiles Navarro is a Panamanian-American trumpeter, composer, DJ, and label founder whose work bridges contemporary jazz, Afro-Caribbean traditions, and experimental music. His practice reflects both his Panamanian heritage and his formative years in New York, where folkloric influences merge with free improvisation, salsa, reggae, and electronic soundscapes. He is the founder and CEO of River Down Records, a label dedicated to documenting and promoting the creative sounds of Panama. Navarro studied trumpet in Panama with Carlos Garnett and Victor “Vitin” Paz, later earning a B.A. in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory and an M.A. from the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, where he studied with Grammy winner Brian Lynch. A true improviser at heart, he combines the structured jazz tradition with experimental freedom. He is a co-founder of Irreversible Entanglements, the internationally acclaimed collective with Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother), Keir Neuringer, Luke Stewart, and Tcheser Holmes. Together with Holmes, he also leads the duo Heritage of the Invisible, whose 2020 release was named one of The Guardian’s “10 Best World Albums of the Year.” His collaborations include projects with Farida Amadou, Joe Morris, Luke Stewart, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. His discography includes releases on International Anthem, Don Giovanni Records, and Impulse!, such as Irreversible Entanglements (2017), Who Sent You? (2020, #2 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart), Heritage of the Invisible II(2020), Open the Gates (2021), and Protect Your Light (2023). His work has received international acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, Rolling Stone, Paste, Jazziz, and Bandcamp Daily. He was listed among The Guardian’s “30 New Artists for 2021” and nominated for a US Artists Fellowship.

Giotis Damianidis (Greece, based in Brussels) – Electric Guitar / Bass Giotis Damianidis is a Greek-born guitarist and bassist based in Brussels, whose work ranges from Afrobeat and psychedelic jazz to free improvisation and experimental music. Known for combining hypnotic rhythmic foundations with exploratory electric textures, his style draws inspiration from Afrobeat pioneers and the electric jazz of Miles Davisin the 1970s. He began his musical studies at the Toumba Conservatory in Thessaloniki, continued at Codarts, Rotterdam Conservatory, and later at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB). Since 2006, he has been an active member of Brussels’ creative music scene and has performed extensively across Europe. Damianidis has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Akira Sakata, Masahiko Satoh, João Lobo, Christos Yermenoglou, Sakis Papadimitriou, Augusto Pirodda, Oghene Kologbo, and Tony Allen. He is a member of several ensembles, including Akira Sakata Entasis, Don Kapot, Punk Kong, Act Up Trio, World Squad, and Afrosoul Messengerz. His discography reflects both his versatility and international reach, with recent releases such as Adyton (with Akira Sakata, Aguirre Records, 2024), Entasis – Live in Europe 2022 (Trost Records), Thousand Leaves (with Masahiko Satoh, Trost Records, 2025), and I Love Tempo (Don Kapot, W.E.R.F. Records, 2023). Through these projects, Damianidis has established himself as a central figure in European experimental and improvised music.

Aleksandar Škorić (Serbia) – Drums Aleksandar Škorić is a Serbian drummer whose playing fuses the rhythmic vitality of the Balkans with the spiritual intensity of free jazz. His approach is characterized by both dynamic power and subtlety, making him a versatile and sought-after musician in contemporary improvised music. Škorić studied jazz and improvisation at the Prins Claus Conservatorium in Groningen (Netherlands) and at the KASK Conservatory in Ghent (Belgium). There, he developed an open and exploratory approach to percussion, rooted in both tradition and avant-garde innovation. He has performed internationally with leading figures in improvised and free jazz, including Akira Sakata, William Parker, Jamie Branch, Charles Gayle, and Shabaka Hutchins. His discography includes Glory Divine (Charles Gayle Trio), Live in Europe 2022 (Akira Sakata Entasis, Trost Records), and Like One Long Dream (Mofaya, with Jamie Branch, John Dikeman, Luke Stewart, and Škorić). Through his ability to weave Balkan rhythms with contemporary free improvisation, Škorić makes a unique rhythmic contribution to both the European and international creative music scenes.

Manos Barkatsas (Greece, based in Brussels) – Guitar Manos Barkatsas is a Greek guitarist, composer, and improviser based in Brussels. His work blends jazz harmony, Mediterranean melodic traditions, and electronic experimentation within a contemporary improvised practice. Rooted in his Cretan heritage, Barkatsas combines intuitive improvisation with refined approaches to form, texture, and soundscape. He has performed and collaborated with musicians such as Chris Pitsiokos, Giovanni Di Domenico, Luke Stewart, Bart Maris, João Lobo, Audrey Lauro, Gregoire Tirtiaux, Peter Jacquemyn, and Augusto Pirodda, and is active in various ensembles. These include the Barkatsas–Cassagne–Maris Trio/Quartet with João Lobo (ambient chamber music and improvisation), the Brussels Improvisers Orchestra, the Maris–Melo–Van Belle–Barkatsas Quartet(recently featured at the Moers Festival), and the project Navarro / Stewart / Barkatsas / Damianidis / Lobo. He also leads experimental projects such as Dystopian Rebetiko and the ambient/techno duo Sonic Movements and Sequences. Recent and upcoming releases include The Way We Move Forward (solo ambient, Bandcamp), Color is a Creation of Mind (with Victor Tsilimparis), the debut album of the Di Domenico – Barkatsas – Škorić Trio, and Live at Moers with the Maris–Melo–Van Belle–Barkatsas Quartet. His work emphasizes responsiveness, sonic exploration, and cross-cultural improvisation, contributing a unique voice to the European experimental jazz landscape.

Supported by Flanders State Of The Art