Maarten Decombel

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Maarten Decombel
Maarten Decombel is the regular string man in Snaarmaarwaar, MANdolinMAN, and Naragonia Quartet. He also sings with Spilar and is currently touring with the international cross-over project Sauvage — a reimagining of Rameau’s Pièces de Clavecin for a hybrid orchestra featuring musicians from jazz, folk, and classical backgrounds.

BIO

Maarten Decombel is a lover of many tunes and obsessed with anything with strings on it. His musical journey began at the age of nine. He discovered folk as a teenager and studied guitar (classical & jazz) at the Higher Conservatory.
His style is best described as a unique combination of powerful energy and gentle lyricism.

As a mandola player and composer he is active within Snaarmaarwaar, a powerfolk trio with a solid live reputation. In 2019, a project of Snaarmaarwaar with singer Eva Decombel gave birth to a new group: Spilar. They immerse both pearls from ancient manuscripts and more recent songs in a West Flemish bath.

In the mandolin quartet MANdolinMAN Maarten plays the mandocello. He has also been the regular string player with Naragonia Quartet, a well-known band on the balfolk circuit, since 2002.

In 2011, he released "October Sunrise" under his own name, a very personal album at the crossroads of folk and jazz.
More recently he has been working with the adventurous trio Tondo: together with the hurdy-gurdy of Gilles Chabenat and the bass clarinet of Fred Pouget, they seek their inspiration at the intersection of contemporary art and traditional music.