Dance the cold away
This February, Het Depot is hosting another COOL Festival on the weekend of 23–26/02. COOL Festival is a four-day celebration of different music genres such as soul, funk, jazz, afrobeat and hip-hop. The festival will host leading artists of all these genres as well as rising fresh talents! Get yourself ready for a lot of dancing to live music and dj-sets.
Marcellus Pittman
Saturday 25.02
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Detroit legend Marcellus ‘Malik’ Pittman has produced a number of iconic grooves. His DJ career started with college parties, wedding receptions and ‘old school parties’ in the early 90s. One of his earliest productions was released with the local hip-hop collective Home Grown. You can find him on labels such as Omar S’s FXHE, Theo Parrish’s Sound Signature and Aaron Siegel’s FIT Sound. Pittman currently runs his own label Unirhythm on which his upcoming productions will be released. Pittman’s audiences can be found far beyond Detroit, in Canada, UK, Germany, Japan and France.
Come On Feet
Saturday 25.02
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Born out of a love for EDM, Come On Feet is a dance and live music performance that brings together the energy of underground genres like footwork and house. Come On Feet’s imagination can be captured by footwork, which is a subgenre that developed within Chicago’s street culture. A team of seven dancers and two musicians on stage, led by choreographer Bui Ngoc Quan, Come On Feet perform the encounter between urban clubbing and modern dance.
AliA b2b Shy One
Saturday 25.02
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AliA’s b2b at COOL festival has been a classic to look forward to for some time. Her previous b2b’s included sessions with DTM Funk and Mr Scruff. For this COOL festival, she will be performing with rising British star, Shy One. AliA is one of the most radiant rising artists in the DJ world. A Leuven native herself, AliA has established a status in the Belgian underground music scene in a short period of time. Now she tours Europe regularly with sets of house, UK Garage, breakbeat and jungle. London native Mali Larrington-Nelson Shy One started DJing on pirate radio as a teenager. Her influences come from a spectrum of the sounds London has to offer. Her sets bring an eclectic mix of club sounds, hip-hop and jazz.
Mulatu Astatke
Sunday 26.02
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Known as the father of Ethio-Jazz music, 78-year-old Mulatu Astatke was musically trained in London, New York City and Boston where he combined his passion for traditional Ethiopian music with jazz and Latin music. In his homeland, he introduced instruments such as vibraphone, congas and the bongo to Ethiopian music. He is famous for bringing Ethiopian tunes to American Jazz. Mulatu has shared the stage with names such as Duke Ellington, and his authentic style has been sampled by inspired artists such as Nas, Kanye West and Damian Marley.
Ão
Sunday 26.02
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Ão is a blend of Afro-Portuguese and South American sounds with subtle electronica and the enchanting vocals of Brenda Corijn. Together with Siebe Chau’s southern guitar, the production of Jolan Decaestecker and the eclectic percussion of Bert Peyffers, Corijn sings in Portuguese and English. Her lyrics can be found on their first self-titled EP Ão, which was released in 2020. Ão are preparing more intoxicating sounds and more danceable rhythms for their debut album, coming next year. Their live performance guarantees saudade with a poppy and electronic effect.
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