Arnaud Dolmen
Origin: Guadeloupe
Arnaud Dolmen is one of the most acclaimed jazz artist, drummer and composer of his generation
Line-up
Arnaud Dolmen : Batterie / Léonardo Montana : Piano / Francesco Geminiani : Sax Ténor / Samuel F'hima : Contrebasse
News
new album LéNo march 2024
Awards
About us
Arnaud Dolmen is one of the most acclaimed jazz artist, drummer and composer of his generation. He won Les Victoires du Jazz 2022 award, category “Revelation”. Jazzwise magazine describes his work as "a masterstroke".
His new album LéNo has been voted Album of the Year! and he has been named one of the top 3 drummers of the year for the 4ᵉ year in a row ! *in Jazz Magazine / Jazz News' Best Off of the Year 2024. And he is a finalist for the Jazz Academy's Django-Reinhardt Prize for the second year running!
Native of Guadeloupe, Arnaud released his successful debut album Tonbé Lévé in 2017.
As young musician, he collaborates with different artists, in various musical style.
Based in Paris, Arnaud brings his gwoka and jazz background in his unique play while traveling the globe. After a long period of observation and introspection, Arnaud Dolmen returns with a second critically-acclaimed album, Adjusting, which questions our interconnection, our human experience in a world as beautiful as noisy…
Touring bands:
Arnaud Dolmen quartet
trio Arnaud Dolmen - Jowee Omicil - Michel Alibo
duo with Léonardo Montana (piano)
Nominated at the 2024 Victoires du Jazz in the ‘Instrumental Artist’ category
Nominated for the Jazz Academy 2024 in the ‘Django Reinhardt Prize’ category
Winner of the Victoires du Jazz 2022, ‘Revelation’ category
Voted ‘Best New Jazz Artist’ and ‘One of the Top 5 Drummers of 2021
by Jazz Magazine and Jazz News
More than 14,000 subscribers on social networks
Has played over 150 concerts worldwide with his three groups
His second album ‘Adjusting’ exceeded 1 million streams
Has recorded over 90 albums as a sideman and 3 as a leader
Originally from Guadeloupe, after his critically acclaimed albums Tonbé Lévé (2017) and Adjusting (2022), Arnaud is back with a new album LéNo, a piano/drums duo with the brilliant Brazilian pianist Leonardo Montana. This third opus is a call to freedom.
Since a very young age, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists in a variety of styles, including Joe Chambers, David Linx, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Mario Canonge, Naïssam Jalal, Alfredo Rodriguez, Ana Carla Maza and Laurent de Wilde. This visionary also composes film music and regularly takes part in educational projects.
Based in Paris, Arnaud Dolmen brings his background in gwoka and jazz to his unique playing, as he travels the world.
External links:
Website Facebook Instagram Youtube WebsiteAssociated Projects
Line-up: Arnaud Dolmen : drums / Léonardo Montana : piano / Francesco Geminiani : sax / Samuel F'hima : ac.bass
He was the man of the year in 2022 for French jazz, which finally recognised him for what he is: one of the most gifted drummers of his generation. Arnaud Dolmen, with his fiery Adjusting quartet, conceived during confinement and whose music questions our interconnectedness, our human experience in a world as beautiful as it is noisy. His highly contemporary jazz drumming resonates with the ancestral rhythms of the ka drum, learned when he was a child.
There's something profound going on in the French West Indies when it comes to jazz, and Arnaud Dolmen is one of its most remarkable expressions. Seen with saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart, flutist Naissam Jalal and singer David Linx, this drummer belongs to a generation of musicians in their thirties who, like their Caribbean cousins from Cuba and Puerto Rico, are seeking to reconcile a centuries-old rhythmic culture with the language of the most contemporary jazz. It's not surprising that you think of Dafnis Prieto or Miguel Zenon when you listen to his music: it's all part of the same drive to activate traditional rhythmic cells at the very heart of the liveliest jazz, to engage with its roots without lapsing into folklorism, avoiding exotic clichés at all costs.
Line-up: Leonardo Montana : piano, Arnaud Dolmen : drums
LéNo duo is a complementary pair of experts. On one side, Leonardo Montana, pianist and composer, partner in crime and author of a fascinating solo, whose touch on the black and ivory instruments is as reminiscent of his South American origins as it is of his real roots in jazz. On the other, Arnaud Dolmen, drummer and composer, sought-after sideman and acclaimed leader, whose jazz drumming resonates with the rhythms of the ka drum (cf. concert on 9 April). Between the two, the flow is natural, running the gamut of sensations - dreamlike, carnal, spiritual - with improvisation as the common thread.
Line-up: Arnaud Dolmen drums, Sophye Soliveau harp, vocal, Gabriel Gosse guitar, chœurs, Carl-Henri Morisset piano, Swaéli Mbappé bass, Adriano Tenorio percussion
It's always moving to witness the birth of a band, and the one that performed last night at La Dynamo in Pantin has a bright future ahead of it.
Led by one of the best jazz drummers of recent years, Arnaud Dolmen, the man radiates happiness when he plays and when he talks to the audience.
Alongside him is Le Vitygroove: Sophye Soliveau on harp and vocals, Gabriel Gosse on electric guitar, Carl-Henri Morisset on keyboards, Swaéli Mbappé on electric bass and Adriano Tenorio on percussion (all of whom sing along with the music, their voices rainbowing Sophye Soliveau's).
In other words, it's a kind of all-star show where no one takes the spotlight and everyone puts their heart and soul into making sure that beauty triumphs.
Vitrygroove's music has a subtle Caribbean flavour; the groove is omnipresent, a nurturing pulse that makes children dance and older children clap their hands.
As part of his artistic residency at La Dynamo de Banlieues Bleues, Arnaud Dolmen met Sophye Soliveau to create the magnificent ‘Bat'man de Chœurs’ project. (Musical actions have been part of the DNA of Banlieues Bleues for ages). His stage presence is radiant, his voice solar and magnetising, his harp playing all stardust.
We haven't finished talking about Vitrygroove and Sophye Soliveau; we haven't finished waiting for their respective debut albums - the band's is due out next year, the harpist's next month... - and we haven't finished thinking about this memorable concert.
Fred Goaty
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