Biography
Initial misunderstandings surrounding the ensemble could perhaps be forgiven, yet as the middle years of the 2000s advanced the group’s core purpose grew steadily more distinct. Think of One does not specialize in works by Thelonious Monk, the composer of the piece “Think of One”; instead the collective invites listeners to envision a single planet in which every musical strand converges within a multicultural feast of rhythm and melody. Established by Flemish guitarist and vocalist David Bovée, the band poses the query “Why can’t we all just get along?” through sound and demonstrates its conviction by journeying worldwide.
The 1997 album Juggernaut, issued jointly on the New York-based Knitting Factory and Belgian De Beek imprints, packed nearly every conceivable style into its grooves—an approach that merely hinted at what lay ahead. This occasionally thrilling and consistently engaging release preceded a series of recordings that followed the ensemble’s inaugural “rhythm study trip” to Marrakech in July 1998: Marrakech Emballages Ensemble (1999), Marrakech Emballages Ensemble 2 (2000), and Marrakech Emballages Ensemble 3 (2002). On these projects the core lineup joined Moroccan singer-percussionists, among them a gnawa master. Exuberant call-and-response singing together with North African instruments—bender, nakkous, sentir, karkabo, oud, and derboukha—guided audiences along polystylistic yet more cohesive paths than Juggernaut, marking the band’s shift from its earlier Belgian avant-prog identity and loose ties to a downtown New York label toward a world-music orientation centered on intersections between Euro-funk and Moroccan gnawa polyrhythms. The resulting cross-cultural exploration earned Think of One the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award in the Boundary Crossing category for Marrakech Emballages Ensemble 3.
Seeking to assert a more singular identity, the group issued Naft (2000) and Naft 2 (2002), featuring Bovée on guitar and lead vocals—sometimes shouting, sometimes sliding into a baritone croon while preserving a streetwise edge—backed by the Belgian nucleus of Tomas DeSmet on double bass, Tobe Wouters on tuba, Eric Morel on saxophones, Bart Maris (formerly of XLS) on trumpet, and Roel Poriau on drums, augmented by additional Belgian brass, reed, and vocal contributors. These albums stirred the band’s musical blend into more cohesive statements shaped by brass-band traditions, rock, funk, calypso, ska, and Middle Eastern/North African rhythms—less fragmented than Juggernaut yet still far from any single style. European tours followed in a van convertible into a mobile stage, with appearances in Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and Marseilles.
By January 2004 and the arrival of the seventh album, Cuva Em Po, listeners discovered that the Belgians (now without Maris) had immersed themselves in Brazil. Unlike fellow countrymen Finnegans Wake, who also visited Brazil yet collaborated with locals sharing their taste for Belgian instrumental chamber progressive rock in the manner of Univers Zero, Bovée and his colleagues fully embraced Brazilian rhythms and vocals, mirroring their earlier work with Moroccan percussionists and singers. The goal was to absorb the country’s groove and participate in a more vibrant musical celebration. In 2006 the second Brazilian collaboration, Tráfico, appeared with broader international reach, including the United States, via the Crammed label.
The pattern of rhythm-seeking Belgians partnering in warmer southern regions continued, yet the story extended further: the band toured Greenland, the Netherlands, and Belgium alongside three Inuit throat singers from Quebec’s Nunavik region—Sarah Surusila, Sylvia Cloutier, and Akinisie Sivuarapik. The “Nunavik Project” received a May 2006 performance at the Festival de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville. Shortly afterward the ensemble returned to North Africa, recording its eighth album and second for Crammed, 2008’s Camping Shaâbi, once more in Morocco.
Think of One proves capable of materializing anywhere—from equatorial zones nearly to the Arctic Circle—suggesting that the musicians’ heat might even contribute to polar ice melt, though that global crisis remains no joking matter. The ensemble’s evident mission is to imagine one world whose inhabitants discover common ground through the performance and shared pleasure of unifying music. Should infectious rhythms and riffs suddenly spill from a nearby parked truck fitted with a portable stage, the likelihood is high that a Think of One concert has been encountered. Let the enjoyment commence.
The 1997 album Juggernaut, issued jointly on the New York-based Knitting Factory and Belgian De Beek imprints, packed nearly every conceivable style into its grooves—an approach that merely hinted at what lay ahead. This occasionally thrilling and consistently engaging release preceded a series of recordings that followed the ensemble’s inaugural “rhythm study trip” to Marrakech in July 1998: Marrakech Emballages Ensemble (1999), Marrakech Emballages Ensemble 2 (2000), and Marrakech Emballages Ensemble 3 (2002). On these projects the core lineup joined Moroccan singer-percussionists, among them a gnawa master. Exuberant call-and-response singing together with North African instruments—bender, nakkous, sentir, karkabo, oud, and derboukha—guided audiences along polystylistic yet more cohesive paths than Juggernaut, marking the band’s shift from its earlier Belgian avant-prog identity and loose ties to a downtown New York label toward a world-music orientation centered on intersections between Euro-funk and Moroccan gnawa polyrhythms. The resulting cross-cultural exploration earned Think of One the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award in the Boundary Crossing category for Marrakech Emballages Ensemble 3.
Seeking to assert a more singular identity, the group issued Naft (2000) and Naft 2 (2002), featuring Bovée on guitar and lead vocals—sometimes shouting, sometimes sliding into a baritone croon while preserving a streetwise edge—backed by the Belgian nucleus of Tomas DeSmet on double bass, Tobe Wouters on tuba, Eric Morel on saxophones, Bart Maris (formerly of XLS) on trumpet, and Roel Poriau on drums, augmented by additional Belgian brass, reed, and vocal contributors. These albums stirred the band’s musical blend into more cohesive statements shaped by brass-band traditions, rock, funk, calypso, ska, and Middle Eastern/North African rhythms—less fragmented than Juggernaut yet still far from any single style. European tours followed in a van convertible into a mobile stage, with appearances in Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and Marseilles.
By January 2004 and the arrival of the seventh album, Cuva Em Po, listeners discovered that the Belgians (now without Maris) had immersed themselves in Brazil. Unlike fellow countrymen Finnegans Wake, who also visited Brazil yet collaborated with locals sharing their taste for Belgian instrumental chamber progressive rock in the manner of Univers Zero, Bovée and his colleagues fully embraced Brazilian rhythms and vocals, mirroring their earlier work with Moroccan percussionists and singers. The goal was to absorb the country’s groove and participate in a more vibrant musical celebration. In 2006 the second Brazilian collaboration, Tráfico, appeared with broader international reach, including the United States, via the Crammed label.
The pattern of rhythm-seeking Belgians partnering in warmer southern regions continued, yet the story extended further: the band toured Greenland, the Netherlands, and Belgium alongside three Inuit throat singers from Quebec’s Nunavik region—Sarah Surusila, Sylvia Cloutier, and Akinisie Sivuarapik. The “Nunavik Project” received a May 2006 performance at the Festival de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville. Shortly afterward the ensemble returned to North Africa, recording its eighth album and second for Crammed, 2008’s Camping Shaâbi, once more in Morocco.
Think of One proves capable of materializing anywhere—from equatorial zones nearly to the Arctic Circle—suggesting that the musicians’ heat might even contribute to polar ice melt, though that global crisis remains no joking matter. The ensemble’s evident mission is to imagine one world whose inhabitants discover common ground through the performance and shared pleasure of unifying music. Should infectious rhythms and riffs suddenly spill from a nearby parked truck fitted with a portable stage, the likelihood is high that a Think of One concert has been encountered. Let the enjoyment commence.
Albums
Singles
