Denis Baeten

Drummer / Composer / Sound Engineer

Brussels, BELGIUM

Denis Baeten is a drummer and composer from Belgium. His very unique way of playing takes its roots in a lot of different influences, and he merges them into a powerful yet subtle musical combination.

Denis was born in a musical family and got the love and passion for music through both his parents. He started to play the drums at the age of 5 and since then never stopped opening new doors.

First active in the rock scene in his teenage years, he later studied jazz at the Codarts Conservatory of Rotterdam, with renown teachers such as Hans Van Oosterhout, Joost Patocka and Mark Schilders. He graduated in 2019.

Influenced by all kinds of styles, going from rock to electronic, from jazz to noise or from hip-hop to classical music, his projects are often approaching music from multiple directions. Denis already played all over Europe with bands like Liberati Quartet and MILD but also under his own name, experiencing the bands both as a sideman and a leader. His natural way of playing is built around listening and reacting, with a strong talent for improvisation and adaptation.

His creativity was rewarded as « Luxemburg’s best drummer » in 2009, at the age of 16. Later he won the prestigious Erasmus Jazz Prize two years in a row : in 2017 with the Liberati Quartet and in 2018 with MILD.

Since 2020, Denis plays in the instrumental electronic band Jean-Paul Groove, the experimental rap band Fokkop.Era, the swing band Duchesses and he plays his own compositions in the project Time Bomb.

Boom tchak, boom boom tchak !