Wajdi Riahi

Wajdi's trio was formed in Brussels in 2020. The three musicians - Wajdi Riahi (piano), Basile Rahola (double bass) and Pierre Hurty (drums) - are inseparable, united by a strong friendship and several musical projects. On stage, their dynamic is solid and complicit, full of smiles and complicity.
Following a proposal from Spanish label Fresh Sounds Records, the trio recorded their first repertoire, Mhamdeya, named after the Tunisian town where the pianist grew up. The opus was released in 2022, and its quality and originality were immediately hailed by the Belgian and French press. It propelled the trio onto the club and festival stages for a fine first tour: Jamm'in Juan, Festival d'Aix-en- Provence, Pan Piper Paris, Jazz04 au Fil de l'Eau Liège, Les Sentiers de Sart- Risbart, Pelzer jazz Club Liège, Jazz Station Bruxelles,... The group is also one of the three finalists in the Gent Jazz Young Talent 2023 competition.
In June 2023, the group immortalizes its second repertoire at the legendary La Buissonne studio in the south of France. Essia is released on the Spanish label
on December 1, 2023.
Dummer Pierry Hurty made his way into Wajdi’s life, and two began playing together on various projects, including “Moments” (Basile’s latest album) and a duo project, “R I H A R T Y”. They have been inseparable ever since.
The strong bonds between these three young musicians translates to a solid, cohesive dynamic in their playing.
Following a proposal from Fresh Sounds Records, Wajdi decided to write a new repertory for the trio. The new music is rhythmically, melodically, and harmonically varied, and each song tells a true story from Wajdi’s life, and that honesty comes through in the trio’s playing.

Mhamdeya, 2022, Fresh Sound Records
Mhamdeya is the name of the Tunisian city where Wajdi grew up. He left when he was 20 and moved to Brussels.
But the city is more than just a hometown to him: it’s a strange mix of pleasure and sadness, a sensation Wajdi tries to bring across in his composition entitled “Mhamdeya” (track 9).
Perhaps it’s a sense of nostalgia for the sound of the radio his mother would play every morning, or the smell of the coffee she used to make, or, perhaps, the sound of the first piano Wajdi began playing in that small room in the conservatory when he was six years old.
It’s more than nostalgia, though. “When I play with Basile and Pierre I don’t want to share only music. I want them to enter into my life and see what it looks like. That’s why I invited them to my home, to my Mhamdeya.”
Clearly, then, Mhamdeya is not simply a place. It is a source of nourishment for Wajdi’s music, and it has become even more than this with Pierre and Basile, because they, too, have their own “Mhamdeyas.”