Behind Mrs Okkido, you'll find Audrey Lauro, a saxophone player from Marseilles who came to Brussels to study at the Royal Academy of Music. She founded the band in 2006, motivated by the desire to compose lyrics-based numbers and work outside the framework of the exciting but volatile Free Jazz scene where she played in many different bands.
To help her carry out this project, she brought together a group of bright sparks whose path she crossed in the course of her studies; musicians who, like her, one day started to feel hemmed in by their chosen genre.
For 2 years the group built up a repertoire in which each composition is a sort of sound haïku, fleshed out by sheer hard work, each member of the group contributing his or her own particular expertise. Mrs Okkido benefits from an impressive wealth of technical skills, creating an incredibly dense film-like atmosphere. The audience whirls through very different moods, from Rock to Jazz via 1970s groove. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes experimental, depending on the way in which the group assembles and arranges the sounds it produces, Mrs Okkido's music seems to have no limits and is astonishing in its maturity. This maturity becomes even more apparent during live performances. Strengthened by their appearances on the stages of the Belgian Jazz scene, they concoct unpredictable sets, managing to enhance their repertoire with fresh hues. Their work is admirably performed by their Dutch-speaking vocalist, Lynn Cassiers, who joined the group just over a year ago.
