Andy Declerck

Andy was Born in Kortrijk, Belgium in 1975. At the age of 10 he started studying saxophone. At the age of 13 he studied 3 years with classical saxophone player Rudy Haemers. After his studies as engineer, he got his first jazz lessons with a saxophone player Frank Debruyne. At the age of 25 he went to the Conservatory of Gent, where he followed lessons with Frank Vaganée, Dieter Limbourg, Marc Godfroid and Nico Schepers. In 2004 he followed master classes with Dick Oatts in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He has also followed  masterclasses with John Ruocco and Bob Mintzer.
He graduated in Gent in 2005 as a Master of Jazz  Music.
Beside  Andy Declerck – Kari Antila Group, he has his own Andy Declerck Kwartet and also played/plays in the salsa big band Mucho Gusto, TNO Tuesday Night Orchestra, big band '86, Greenhouse Sextet, Colorless Green, The Almost Swinging JazzBand, and as a freelance musician. He has/had concerts with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Hans Van Oost, Frederik Leroux, Herman pardon, The Beethoven Academy. He has perfomed in several Belgian jazzclubs and in the Netherlands, France and Greece. He also teaches in different music schools and lately he has concentrated a lot on composing his own music.
Beside the tenor saxophone he also plays soprano saxophone, flute and clarinet.

Kari Antila

Born in Laitila, Finland, Kari started studying classical piano at the age of 8. At the age of 12, he got his first guitar, and since then started to concentrate on playing guitar instead of piano. Kari was autodidact until the age of 23, when he entered in Pop/Jazz Conservatory music school in Helsinki, Finland. After graduating from music school, Kari continued on a degree program of pop/jazz music pedagogue in Stadia, Helsinki, Finland. In Stadia Kari studied with a well-known Finnish jazz guitar player Pekka Luukka.

In 2003 Kari moved to Belgium and studied jazz guitar with famous Belgium Jazz players Peter Hertmans and Philip Catherine. 2006 Kari graduated cum laude from royal conservatory of Gent as a master of jazz music. Kari has also followed master classes for example with Jim Hall, Ben Monder and Michael Brecker.

Besides of his commercial music works in Finland, Kari has worked with many top Finnish jazz musicians, for example Lasse Lindgren, Ville Herrala, Ari Jokelainen, Esa Pethman, Toni Porthen, Ulf Krokfors and Ville Pynssi to name a few. In Belgium he has played commercial music works with top names, such as Lee Towers and has performed for example in Paris olympia, France. In Belgium Kari has played jazz with Geraardsbergen 86 big band, and Gent Conservatory big band, both led by a famous Belgium trombone player Marc Godfroid. He has also had opportunity to work as leader or sideman in Belgium with Hans Van Oost, Kris Duerinckx, Bart Van Caneghem, Mark Godfroid and Fredrik Heirman with whom he was accompanying in Erasmus Jazzprize Competition 2004 in Rotterdam, Netherlands resulting 2nd. Kari has also performed in Denmark, France, Switzeland, Italy and the United States in different occasions. Kari has his own Kari Antila Trio which is active both in Finland and in Belgium performing his original compositions and jazz standards. Kari has also taught many years in different music schools in Finland and participated as jury faculty in Turku Conservatory, Finland.

City newspaper "Turkulainen" 12.10.2005

Wim Ramon

Wim Ramon has finished his Master Degree of Jazz in the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and has worked in a wide range of styles with a considerable number of artists.
The music has led Wim through a major part of Europe playing in clubs and festivals, including Marktrock Leuven, Dranouter folk festival, Crossing Border festival in The Hague, Brussels Jazz Marathon, Montreux Festival, The Cobblestones in Dublin, Lillihammer folkfestival in Norway, Phoenix festival in Tullamore (IRL), The New Morning (Paris), Ancienne Belgique (Brussels).
Wim has recorded radio and TV shows with Tom Robinson, Neeka, Vaya Con Dios, Het Groot Onderhoud folk project, Morabezza, Daithi Rua.
Currently Wim plays with the Andy Declerck- Kari Antila group, Irish songwriter Daithi Rua, the Sara Prové Trio, and as freelance bassist with different artists/ projects.
Wim has won the Gent Jazz Talent competition as member of ‘The News Wing’ and was comping for trombone player Frederik Heirman in the Jazz soloist competition Erasmus 2004 in Rotterdam, resulting in a 2nd place.
Wim is teaching electric and upright bass and combo playing in the music academies of Knokke and Gent, and he is a pedagogic co-ordinator for Gent’s jazz department.

Toon Van Dionant  

Toon, born in 1976 in Belgium, has graduated from Lemmensinstituut in Leuven as Master of Jazz Music in 2004. His teacher was Dré Pallemaerts. At the moment he is making further additional studies in Conservatory of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Besides Andy Declerck- Kari Antila Group he plays with Robin Verheyen Trio, New Groove Sextet, Andy Declerck Quartet, the Young Bigband, The Young Jazz Ensemble and roots&blues formation The Belbouchos. He is also active as a freelance musician and plays a lot in Belgium and in the Netherlands. Toon has performed with some top names like Jeroen Van Herzeele, Peter Hertmans and Toots Thielemans
He teaches jazz drumming at the music schools in Brussels and in St-Agatha-Berchem.