Hands in Motion

Simon Leleux

Simon Leleux is a Belgium-based percussionist specialising in doholla, darbuka and other Arab and Middle Eastern percussion instruments and styles.

Having trained with masters such as Ahmet Misirli, Zohar Fresco, Pedram Khavarzamini, Madjid Khaladj, Niti Ranjan Biswas and Azzedine Jazouli, Simon has focused on studying the doholla (bass darbuka) since 2014 with the musician who broke new ground with this instrument, Levent Yildirim. Following Yildirim’s philosophy, Simon’s work with doholla has lead him to a soloistic and melodic approach to the instrument.

He released his first solo album (‘Letter to Levent’) in 2021 and is a founding member of two other projects, Hands in Motion and Auster Loo. Simon has also had the privilege of sharing the stage with many other celebrated artists including Fabrizio Cassol, Kudsi Erguner, Ross Daly, Ibrahim Maalouf, Khaled Alhafez, Tcha Limberger, Claron McFadden, Ugur Önür and Ghalia Benali.

Robbe Kieckens

Trained in the rhythms of Ottoman classical music (usul) with Fahrettin Yarkin, Robbe Kieckens has also studied various instruments and cultures that that define his style of playing, from flamenco to Arabic and Persian percussion, including West African music. He masters a very wide range of instruments including frame drums, cajon, congas, tombak, darbuka, udu, riq, calabash, djembe and dunums. Robbe is a founding member of the Lamekan Ensemble and has performed with Compro Oro and Myrddin De Cauter. He teaches bendir, riqq and darbuka in Brussels and Ghent.

Célestin Massot

Born in Brussels, Célestin Massot trained among others at the Liège Conservatory in classical percussion as well as at the Brussels conservatories in rhythm and jazz piano.
His career led him to collaborate with many musicians: Nathalie Loriers, Gerrit Nulens, Muriel Kouyaté, Simon Leleux, Osvaldo Hernandez, Laurence Mekhitarian, Joao Lobo …
Ranging from jazz to contemporary or Cuban music, a varied approach to the stage constitutes his identity: he collaborates in particular as a percussionist and pianist in numerous artistic productions with the ensemble Ictus, the play “the attack”, the circus company Be Flat, the groups Tambora, Surprises du Chef, Hands In Motion, Jean Seb…