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". In France, Jazz Magazine crowned him as "the Best New Jazz Artist", "One of the 5 best drummers of 2021" (with Jazz News).
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)
Tonbé Lévé, his first album released in 2017, focused on a contemporary Jazz aesthetic is a resounding success. Based in Paris, the artist continues to surprise with his unique style and skills as a composer. 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…
Originally from Guadeloupe, he studied drum ka from the age of five, then drums at Atelier Marcel Lollia, under the direction of Georges Troupé. As a teenager, his talent was revealed in the Kimbòl Youth Orchestra. As young musician, he collaborates with different artists, in various musical style. Close to his majority in 2003, the Guadeloupe drummer flew to Toulouse to continue his music studies at the Dante Agostini drum school.
Freshly graduated, he began his professional career on the national and international scene alongside Caribbean groups such as Soft, Franck Nicolas or Dédé Saint-Prix. Between 2006 and 2015, he was the co-leader of several remarkable bands : Zetliyo, FDH Trio and Nonoexperiment.
He has performed around the world alongside Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Bojan Z, Olivier Ker Ourio, Alfredo Rodriguez, Mario Canonge, Naïssam Jalal, Laurent de Wilde, David Linx, Samy Thiébault, Jonathan Jurion and many more.
To date, he has already recorded more than 80 albums.
Meanwhile, he passes on his knowledge during masterclasses and private lessons. He also composed the music for two documentaries: "Une Histoire à Soi" by Amandine Gay (released in June 2021), "Camarade Jean" by Franck Salin (released in October 2020). Arnaud appears in the Netflix series, The Eddy. He participated in “Jazz(s) à la Philharmonie”, an original film on French jazz by Mathieu Moon Saura and Priscilla Telmon, aired on ARTE Concert in June 2021. Arnaud signs the music for Franck Salin's play, Zantray, released in October 2021.
External links:
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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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