Jean-Michel Defaye | |
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 Defaye in the 1950s | |
| Born | 18 September 1932 Saint-Mandé, France |
| Died | 1 January 2025 (aged 92) |
| Education | Conservatoire de Paris |
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Jean-Michel Defaye (18 September 1932 – 1 January 2025) was a French pianist, composer, arranger and conductor known for his collaboration with French poet and singer-songwriter Léo Ferré.
Defaye was born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, near Paris, on 18 September 1932. [1] At aged ten he entered the Paris Conservatoire [2] and completed his musical training in theory, piano and composition, taking in Nadia Boulanger's accompaniment class. [3] In his early years, he was interested in jazz. [4] Defaye's primary instrument was the piano, but he also played trombone and trumpet. [5] He attended the composition classes of Darius Milhaud and Tony Aubin. [5] [6] In 1952 he won second prize of the Grand Prix de Rome; [3] and the following year he won the Lili Boulanger Prize of Harvard [3] and the second prize in composition for the Belgian Queen Elisabeth Competition. [3] [7]
As a composer he wrote mostly for brass, [3] especially trombone; he wrote pieces for trombone and piano in the style of classical composers such as Bach, Brahms, Debussy, Schumann, Stravinsky and Vivaldi. [8] He composed chamber music with brass instruments, pieces for competitions, concertos for clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and trombone, and many educational pieces. His writing was often influenced by jazz. [3]
Defaye wrote several film scores, including Pouic-Pouic . [2] As an arranger, he worked for decades with singer-songwriter Léo Ferré. [3] He also collaborated with Juliette Gréco, Zizi Jeanmaire and Les Branquignols . [2]
Defaye died on 1 January 2025, at the age of 92. [2]
Compositions by Defaye include: [9] [10]
Defaye composed film scores including: [12]
Dafaye collaborated as pianist, arranger and musical leader for albums and recitals by Léo Ferré, including:
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