Laïs

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Laïs (Celtic for voice) is a Flemish group, bringing contemporary folk and world music in a unique manner.

The female vocal trio part of Laïs are three young women from Kalmthout:

Jorunn Bauweraerts
Annelies Brosens
Nathalie Delcroix

They are accompanied by four men:

Fritz Sundermann (electric and acoustic instruments, harmonium)
Hans Quaghebeur (squeezeboxes, hurdy-gurdy, whistle)
Ronny Reuman (percussion)
Bart Denolf (electric and acoustic bass)

They are known especially for their polyphonic close harmony songs, occasionally a cappella, based on self-composed melodies with lyrics dating back to the Middle Ages.

Their career started in 1994, when Jorunn and Annelies performed a song at the folk festival in Gooik, near Brussels. Nathalie joined the group somewhat later. They had their breakthrough after their appearance at the folkfestival of Dranouter, near Ypres, in 1996.

Their debut CD album was released in 1998. They performed in South Africa, Canada, France (as a supporting program for Sting), the Netherlands and China. In April 2004 they released their third CD to the market under the title Douce Victime, with covers from Jacques Brel and Herman van Veen. It was recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London.