Born in Belgium on June 26 1956. At the age of six Rony Verbiest started expressing himself through the accordion with the guiding hand of his father, at that time a well known accordion player. Eight years later Rony formally began to explore the saxophone and percussion. Initiating his educational path at the Academy of Ledeberg, he continued through the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, where he studied chamber music besides saxophone and percussion. This eventually took him to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels receiving the First Prize for saxophone. Not long after he joined the Koninklijke Muziekkapel van de Gidsen / la Musique Royale des Guides [trans. The Royal Music Chapel of the Guides] a highly prestigious ensemble attached to the military Royal Guards, where he performed classical pieces.
Simultaneously his passion for Jazz grew which pushed him to join ranks in the Big Band Sound, led by Freddy Couché in Wetteren. Rony Verbiest studied under Johny Griffin, Rob Madna, Jeff Clayton, Etienne Verscheuren and others. Only half a decade later he formed his own band, Cool Mood with Serge Plume (tp), Peter Hertmans (gt) and Bart De Nolf (b). Throughout his rich career he has been having the opportunity to explore a large repertoire, ranging from classical to jazz. In 1989, he was invited by what was then still the national radio to join the band De Frisse Wind. Later he joined the saxophone quartet Saxologie. Not only has he partaken in several trios or quartets, he has also been playing live with several big bands, such as the Act Big Band.
In 1990, the famous Flemish singer-songwriter Johan Verminnen hired him to play the accordion for the recording of his song "De Musette". Rony found he still had the chops on the accordion too, which he fervently explored and used to intertwine several genres from classical, Jazz, tango nuevo and folk into his own distinct style. A lot of his accordion talent was expressed in collaboration with Les Petits Belges. Together with Richard Galliano and Marcel Azzola, Rony Verbiest has become one of the new voices on the instrument and belongs to the top in Europe. He created his own trio with Hendrik Braeckman on guitar, and Mario Vermandel, on bass, with whom he recorded his debut album Ah Bah Joât. A few years later down the line came his next production, Caro Hum. Within his third recording, Nouvelles, he collaborated with Cattleya. He currently tours on accordion in duet with Antje De Boeck.
Now, in his last exciting recording, Nature Boy, Rony Verbiest has returned to his first love of the saxophone. He performs on the baritone sax in quartet joined by Michel Bisceglia (p), Werner Lauscher (b), and Mimi Verderame (dr).
Albums
RONY VERBIEST Trio - Ah Bah Joât (Etna, 1998).
RONY VERBIEST - Caro Hum (Etna, 2001).
RONY VERBIEST - Nouvelles feat. Cattleya. (Rent A Dog Records, 2004).
RONY VERBIEST Quartet - Nature Boy (Prova Records, 2007).
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