Martial Solal Trio · Complete Sessions 1953-1962

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
A new pianist of startling talent burst onto the international jazz scene in late 1953. His name was Martial Solal, a young Frenchman born in Algiers (1927). He left his hometown for Paris at the age of 23 in search of a more favorable jazz climate, earning fame and experience along the way with a number of bands. In 1953 his playing caught the ear of legendary jazz producer Charles Delaunay, who offered to record him accompanied by Pierre Michelot and Pierre Lemarchand the two leading voices in their respective instruments for his Swing / Vogue label. These were Solal s first trio recordings, and they immediately established him as someone to reckon with in the French jazz scene. Bud Powell was Solal s favorite pianist and one of his main influences, but Erroll Garner came a close second. Needless to say, as a bop enthusiast, he was fond of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis as well. His main objective was to play bop, but with his own brand of piano playing, looking for new harmonies because, as he says, to me evolution is the first and most important thing. You will find in this collection all the qualities that make Martial Solal one of the best contemporary pianists: a soft touch full of contrasts even in the more demanding pieces; his keen intelligence, which keeps him cool at all times; and the way he always swings forward through imagination and originality, which are the trademarks of his talent.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
French pianist, composer, and bandleader Martial Solal's intuitive approach to improvisation has earned him an honored place among the greatest minds in all of jazz. Thoroughly versed in the tradition from big-band swing to bop and post-bop, Solal has also composed chamber music, written scores for more than 20 films, and recorded more than 50 albums as soloist and leader. For more than half a century, Solal personified the cross-pollinated splendor of European jazz by utilizing styles and influences from both sides of the Atlantic to generate and sustain musical ideas that almost invariably come across as intelligent, pleasant, and gratifying. A student of 20th century European composers such as Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Alban Berg, and Olivier Messiaen, his early influences on piano were Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, and Art Tatum, followed by Erroll Garner, Bud Powell, and Bill Evans. Some might hear elements of Herbie Nichols or Dodo Marmarosa. Both Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington held him in highest esteem. As a composer he is clearly descended from both Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Each of these currents flows freely yet systematically through his music, tempered by his own unique sensibilities and a vast store of impressions harvested and manifested during a lengthy lifetime spent in absorption, reflection, and emanation. Born to French parents in Algiers, North Africa, on August 23, 1927, Martial Solal grew up under the influence of his mother, an opera singer who encouraged him to learn to play piano, clarinet, and saxophone. In 1942 the Vichy government's adopted Nazi racial policies (enforced in the French colony of Algeria) resulted in his expulsion from school, solely on account of his father's Jewish ancestry. Already familiar with the classical piano repertoire from Bach to Debussy, young Solal now became a full-time musical autodidact. A turning point occurred when he pushed himself to emulate a recording he heard over the radio, unaware that he'd been listening to a piece for piano four hands. (Similarly, finger-style guitar virtuoso Guy Van Duser cited an overdubbed Chet Atkins record as an important inspiration for his own exceptional accomplishments.) By the age of 15, Solal was performing publicly, often playing to an audience of U.S. Armed Forces personnel. Solal continued to study and perform while enlisted in the military, began working professionally in 1945, and moved to Paris in 1950, performing in nightclubs and making his first recordings as soloist and sideman, sometimes under the name of O.J. Jaguar. During this period he worked with bassist Pierre Michelot and in bands led by trumpeter Aimé Barelli, drummers Gerard Pochonet and Benny Bennett, and triple-threat trumpet/clarinet/tenor sax man Noel Chiboust. Solal formed a quartet in 1951 with trumpeter Roger Guerin, bassist Paul Rovère, and drummer Daniel Humair. He recorded with an ensemble under the direction of composer Andre Hodeir in 1952, then cut an LP with his own trio and participated in Django Reinhardt's very last session in 1953. In 1955 Solal played on what appears to have been Argentine composer and bandoneon virtuoso Astor Piazzolla's first European recording date. He jammed with guitarist Henri Crolla and progressive clarinetists/tenor saxophonists Hubert Rostaing and Maurice Meunier, and in 1956 was heard on one of earliest albums ever to appear under the name of Claude Bolling. Solal's artistic collaborations with visiting or expatriate U.S. jazz musicians during the 1950s and early '60s included sessions with trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Quentin "Butter" Jackson, saxophonists Sidney Bechet, Don Byas, Lucky Thompson, and Stan Getz, guitarist Jimmy Gourley, bassist Joe Benjamin, and drummers Kenny Clarke and Roy Haynes, as well as bassist Curtis Counce among a small contingent of instrumentalists

Number of Discs: 2

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.