Louis Sclavis
Origin: France
About us
Saxophonist, clarinettist and jazz composer Louis Sclavis has won numerous awards, including the Django Reinhardt Prize.
Louis Sclavis was born in Lyon in 1953. He began learning the clarinet at the age of ten in his local brass band, and after a few years went on to study at the Lyon Conservatoire.
In the early 1970s, he played with theater and dance troupes in the living theater and bread and puppet movements, and was musically inspired by groups such as Soft Machine, Sun Râ and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
He began his professional career in 1975 with Workshop de Lyon, where he worked with Colette Magny. In 1977, he took part in the creation of ARFI, and played and recorded with the Marvelous Band, La Marmite Infernale and others.
In the early 1980s, Louis Sclavis played in Henri Texier's quartet, the Compagnie Lubat, Chris Mac Gregor's Brotherhood of Breath, with Michel Portal and European musicians such as Tony Oxley, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzman, Enrico Rava, Thomas Stanko and others.
In 1984, he began forming his own groups (trio, quartet, sextet), with whom he recorded for labels such as Label bleu, Enja, FMP and above all ECM. At the same time, he composed for film (Amos Gitaï, Bertrand Tavernier), theater and dance, working with Jacques Bonnafé, Mathilde Monnier, Ernest Pignon Ernest, Guy Lequerrec and others.
He has been awarded the Django Reinhardt Prize, the Grand Prix National de la Musique and the Grand Prix de la SACEM, among others.
New projects:
- India quintet with Sarah Murcia - double bass, Benjamin Moussay - piano, Christophe Lavergne - drums, Olivier Laisney - trumpet,
- Duo with Benjamin Moussay (piano) - Album “Unfolding” on ECM
Associated Projects
Line-up: Sarah Murcia - ac.bass, Benjamin Moussay - piano, Christophe Lavergne - drums, Olivier Laisney - trumpet, Louis Sclavis - clarinet
“After the “Characters on a wall” project, I wanted to create a new program with the same musicians, adding trumpeter Olivier Laisney. The sound of this orchestra enabled me to find themes in jazz, brass bands and street bands. I called this new opus INDIA, in reference to the title of the album recorded with my first band as leader, CHINE. This music is made up of melodies, dances and improvisations underpinned by stubborn pulsations and rhythms. I have distant memories of a theater on the docks of Calcutta, of a long train in the countryside, of a night at Kali temple, of a brass band during Ganesh festivals... I want to make you hear the sounds of a faraway place that is more dream than reality. Louis Sclavis
Also new album “Unfolding” in duet with Benjamin Moussay on the ECM label.
Line-up: Louis Sclavis, clarinette - Benjamin Moussay, piano
Already partners on numerous discs released by Louis Sclavis on ECM - most recently “Characters On A Wall” - clarinettist and pianist Benjamin Moussay have considerably developed their complicity and sense of interplay in recent years, successfully multiplying their concerts all over Europe.
In this new album - with a program made up entirely of original themes (2/3 composed by the pianist, the final third by the clarinettist) - the French duo imagine a world of intimate conversations on the fringes of chamber music, juxtaposing contemplative sequences of intense lyricism with much more whimsical moments, highlighting the joyful complicity at the heart of their collaboration. Always highly focused, the duo conjures up intense, warm improvisations from delicate themes, never overflowing but patiently exploring the potential of the written material in fluid dialogues of rare creativity.
Gallery
