Milan Verbist Trio
Biography Milan Verbist Trio
Milan Verbist
was born an only child into an artistic family. His father is double bassist Piet Verbist; his mother was a painter. At an early age, both his parents introduced him to jazz. He began playing accordion at the age of five, but switched to piano at age seven. He studied at MaGo Academy with classical pianists Arthur Vuye and Nicolas Callot. When he entered high school, he first chose economics and modern languages. After four years, he wanted to do more with his love of music, and went to The! Arts Humanities to study jazz piano. During his time at this school, he started playing in a band and began giving concerts. After graduating from De! Kunsthumaniora, he was accepted into the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp with Erik Vermeulen as head teacher. In June 2022, he graduated from the conservatory with greatest distinction.
Today, Milan is a much sought-after musician in and around Antwerp, playing some 150 concerts annually. He is bandleader of two piano trios and co-leader of several other bands. In 2022, Milan won second place in the "7 Virtual Jazz Club" competition with the band Cobalt Trio. The influences of his favorite piano players McCoy Tyner, Phineas Newborn, Wynton Kelly, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Marcin Wasilewski, Don Pullen, Cedar Walton, Keith Jarrett... made him the musician he is today.
Milan surrounds himself with a rhythm section consisting of Toon Rumen (°2001, BE) on double bass and Jens Meijer (°1996, NL) on drums. Their repertoire consists of Milan's own compositions, as well as compositions by musicians who inspire them, and their own arrangements and interpretations of the broader jazz repertoire. The trio's musicians got to know each other during jam sessions and at the Conservatory. At a first concert together, it clicked immediately. Since then, the trio has played some 30 concerts in Belgium and made recordings. The Milan Verbist Trio's first album titled “Time Change” will be released in September 2025 on US label Origin Records.
