aki (BE)

aki is is a Belgian jazz project by drummer Anke Verslype. Together with various musicians she brings her compositions to life.
At the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp she met Willem Heylen (guitar), Ruben van Cauwenberghe (harmonica) and Jasper de Roeck (bass), who contributed to her first EP ‘warme dagen’. The album, ‘Niobe’ came into existence with the current band consisting of Willem Heylen (guitar), Ruben de Maesschalck (bass) and Marjolein Vernimmen (harp).

​For the their newest album ‘nader’ the collective worked together with Joachim Badenhorst (Clarinet).


The music explores uncomplicated melodies, of which the borders are touched and crossed through improvisation. The listener is floats along a warm wave of melancholy. Aki presents the kind of jazz that lives on the axis of scenic landscapes, nostalgia and minimalism.