As the opening of the AMOK festival, KAAP and Cactus join forces for a free evening full of musical adventure, spread across Cactus Club and Cactus Café! For this, KAAP selected a colorful mix of artists from their in-house label W.E.R.F. Records, which for more than thirty years has been a guarantee of quality for jazz and genre-defying musical talent from their own country.

On the program: immersive dreampop by Margitte, infectious global fusion grooves by re#encounter and Compro Oro, soulful hiphop and r&b by Kunde and Helena Casella, and hypnotic trance music by bààn. The evening will be closed with a DJ set by W.E.R.F. label head DJ Fallujah in Cactus Café!

Cactus Café

bààn is a Belgian instrumental duo, founded in 2016 in Brussels by Pascal N. Paulus (who helped shape the sound of Melanie De Biasio’s breakthrough album No Deal) and Jean-Philippe De Gheest. In their music they weave together ambient, psych, jazz and rock, creating an intoxicating atmosphere that immediately transports the listener to distant places.

Pascal N. Paulus: synths
Jean-Philippe De Gheest: drums, percussion

Margitte is the band around Ghent-based musician Margot De Ridder. Inspired by a wide range of musical influences, from jazz to twee pop and indie rock, Margitte creates an ethereal yet sharp and, above all, distinctive sound.

Margot De Ridder: lead vocals, synths
Artan Buleshkaj: guitar
Annelies De Ridder: synths, backing vocals
Simon Raman: drums

Cactus Café

After all the live performances, Dj Benjamin — who is actually called Benny Claeysier and is label executive of W.E.R.F. Records — takes over the turntables. Dancing into the night!

Cactus Club

For more than ten years, Compro Oro has been blending jazz with grooves drawn from all over the world, ranging from Turkish psychedelia to salsa and boogaloo, and even Ethio jazz. For their latest project, they dive into Congolese rumba. Together with Congolese singer and likembé virtuoso Bouton Kalanda, they will release a full album in early 2027. At AMOK you will get — albeit without Bouton — a preview.

Wim Segers: vibraphone
Bart Vervaeck: guitar
Falk Schrauwen: percussion
Frederik Van den Berghe: drums
Matthias Debusschere: bass

Cactus Club

The name Helena Casella has quickly grown into a well-established presence in the Belgian jazz, soul and R&B scene. The exceptionally talented Belgian-Brazilian singer and songwriter delivered an impressive debut album with Pit Of Impressions and has since shone on numerous stages at home and abroad. Neo-soul of the highest level, reaching toward the calibre of greats such as D’Angelo and Erykah Badu. And no, that’s not an exaggeration.

Helena Casella: vocals, keys
Max Sergeant: drums
Agus Fulka: guitar
Léa Kadian: bass

Cactus Club

The Belgian rapper with Cameroonian roots KUNDE is a master of storytelling and a true-born performer. His two albums, ‘Dandelion’ (2024) and ‘Late Bloomer’ (2026), are autobiographical and tell the story of growing up as a child between two worlds. His music is a refined blend of (neo) soul, jazz and hip hop.

Joram Kunde Boumkwo: keys, synths, vocals and percussion
Samuel Mampuya: drums
Léa Kadian: bass
Seppe De Bleser: sax and flute
Peter Lesage: synths

Cactus Club

re#encounter brings together some of the most talented voices from cosmopolitan Brussels for a trance-driven exploration of Afro-diasporic music, such as gnawa and Sahara blues, and its global connections. All of this is drenched in a generous dose of spiritual jazz in the spirit of Alice and John Coltrane.

Robbe Bey Latré: trumpet
Hicham Bilali: guembri, vocals
Kaito Winse: flute, vocals
Paula León: bass, vocals
Lúcia Pires: flute
Joos Vandueren: saxophone
Falk Schrauwen: drums