Michel Graillier

Last updated
Michel Graillier
Born(1946-10-18)18 October 1946
Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France
Died12 February 2003(2003-02-12) (aged 56)
Paris
Genres Jazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentPiano
Years active1960s–2000s
Labels Saravah, Musica, Le Chant du Monde, EmArcy, Marge

Michel Graillier (18 October 1946, Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France - February 2003, Paris) [1] was a French jazz pianist.

Contents

Biography

From the ages of four to eighteen, Graillier studied classical piano in Lens, France. During adolescence, he worked as a drummer with the amateur yéyé group, Les Chaps ("The Guys"). [2]

After some preparatory classes, he enrolled in the engineering school at the ISEN in Lille, where he met the bassist Didier Levallet through whom he discovered jazz. In 1968, with a diploma in electrical engineering, he moved to Paris. He played in clubs, most notably at the Caméléon, in a trio with Aldo Romano and Jean-François Jenny-Clark. He made his first recording in 1969 with Steve Lacy. For three years, he accompanied violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. His first album for Agartha Records appeared in 1970, on which he was accompanied by Alby Cullaz and Bernard Lubat. During the same year, he recorded Pianos Puzzle with Georges Arvanitas, René Urtreger, and Maurice Vander. Due to personal problems, he withdrew from performing for a period of time. [3]

In 1972, he was invited by drummer Christian Vander to play piano in his group Magma, which he did for two years. On some Magma albums Graillier is credited under his kobaian name Tsoï Menekaah. [4] Following that, he played with Christian Escoudé, François Jeanneau, and others. For several years, he was the regular pianist at the club Riverbop. Here he had the opportunity to play with Americans in Paris who were on tour, such as Philly Joe Jones and Steve Grossman. He performed at the club Dréher in Paris and at Magnetic Terrasse, usually in trio with Alby Cullaz and Christian Vander, but also with Barney Wilen or Jacques Pelzer.

In 1977 saxophonist and flutist Jacques Pelzer, whose daughter Micheline was married to Graillier, introduced him to Chet Baker. For the next ten years, Graillier accompanied Baker.

In addition, he played with Éric Le Lann, Philip Catherine, Jacques Thollot, Richard Raux, Jean-Pierre Debarbat, Alain Jean-Marie, Paolo Fresu, and Pharoah Sanders. He appeared regularly in duo with bassist Riccardo Del Fra and in trio with Alby Cullaz and Simon Goubert.

In the course of his career, he accompanied singers Julos Beaucarne, Jacques Bertin, Maxime le Forestier, Eddy Mitchell, Stéphanie Crawford, Elisabeth Caumont, and Stella Vander.

He died due to complications of a duodenal ulcer in February 2003. [5]

Style

According to Graillier, he was influenced most by pianists Bud Powell, Bill Evans, and McCoy Tyner, and somewhat later Herbie Hancock in the Miles Davis quintet. [6]

But Graillier has also said of his influences, "Of course, the influences are there, but it is not worth talking about them, they are part of the normal evolution of any musician. A musician simply wants to play, regardless of his knowledge of the language. He is therefore obliged to learn the language that others have developed over decades and this language becomes more and more intelligible over time, just as a kid learns to write. Above all, the influence of the great pianists and musicians is mainly of value in showing one how to find one's own voice." [6]

In his short autobiography, Le Monde la Musique (The World and its Music), Graillier cited a phrase from Pascal Anquetil, "There floats through all his music, a dreamy and sweetly drifting mist. A climate of peace that restores one on a summer night without knowing exactly why." [2]

Xavier Prévost wrote in the Dictionnaire du Jazz, "Michel Graillier constructed an internal dialogue of breathing that knew how to make room for silence." [7]

Awards

Discography

Source: [8]

With Chet Baker

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Galliano</span> French accordionist of Italian heritage (born 1950)

Richard Galliano is a French accordionist of Italian heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Cosma</span> Romanian musician (born 1940)

Vladimir Cosma is a Romanian composer, conductor and violinist, who has made his career in France and the United States.

Jazz music has been popular in France since the 1920s. Its international popularity peaked in the 1930s, and it has been continually enjoyed since.

René Urtreger is a French bebop pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Escoudé</span> French Gypsy jazz guitarist (1947–2024)

Christian Escoudé was a French Gypsy jazz guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Portal</span> French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist

Michel Portal is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Texier</span> French jazz double bassist

Henri Texier is a French jazz double bassist.

Georges Arvanitas was a French jazz pianist and organist.

<i>Üdü Ẁüdü</i> 1976 studio album by Magma

Üdü Ẁüdü is the sixth studio album by French rock band Magma, released on 10 September 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stéphane Belmondo</span> Musical artist

Stéphane Belmondo is a French jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, and drummer. Including recordings made with his brother Lionel Belmondo and Yusef Lateef, he won the best French album category (L'Album français de l'année) in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and the best artist award (L'Artiste ou la Formation instrumentale française de l'année) in 2003 and 2004. in the French Victoires du Jazz awards. Along with his brother, he is noted for tribute albums that involve the musicians being honored.

Hélène Boschi was a Franco-Swiss pianist, born in Lausanne. She studied with Yvonne Lefébure and Alfred Cortot at the Ecole normale de musique in Paris. Throughout her life she led a dual career as a teacher and as a performer.

Boulou Ferré is a French virtuoso jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, and improviser. He is the brother of Elios Ferré, also a jazz musician, with whom he has recorded widely. His repertoire includes jazz and classical music. He is considered one of the greatest contemporary musicians of the manouche tradition and has contributed to the genre through his knowledge of both jazz and classical music and his interest in the contrapuntal music of J. S. Bach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Éric Legnini</span> Belgian jazz pianist (born 1970)

Éric Legnini is a Belgian jazz pianist and bandleader of the Éric Legnini Trio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Baptiste Robin</span> French composer and organist

Jean-Baptiste Robin is a French composer and organist.

<i>At Capolinea</i> 1984 studio album by Chet Baker

At Capolinea is an album by jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, recorded in Milan and originally on the Italian Jii label as Al Capolinea before being more widely released by Red Records. It features, among others, Italian guitarist Nicola Stilo and French pianist Michel Graillier, both of which contributed with original compositions.

The Prix Django Reinhardt is an award granted by the French Académie du Jazz for the best French jazz musician of the year. It is named after Django Reinhardt. The prize is determined by a jury of jazz journalists, producers, and musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain Jean-Marie</span> French pianist

Alain Jean-Marie is a French jazz pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Lubat</span> Musical artist

Bernard Lubat is a French jazz drummer, pianist, singer, percussionist, vibraphonist, and accordionist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain Bernaud</span> French composer (1932–2020)

Alain Henri Bernaud was a French composer.

The Académie du jazz is a non-profit French association created in 1954, which annually awards the best artists and the best musical productions in the world of jazz. The founding president was violinist André Hodeir followed by journalist Maurice Cullaz, radio producer Claude Carrière, and currently François Lacharme. Honorary presidents have included novelist Jean Cocteau, composers Georges Auric and Henri Sauguet, music critic Charles Delaunay, violinist Stéphane Grappelli, pianist Martial Solal and Frédéric Charbaut, co-founder of the Festival Jazz à Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

References

  1. ↑ "matchID - Michel Graillier". Fichier des décès (in French). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Michel Graillier - Life". Graillier.free.fr. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  3. ↑ "Michel Graillier : 2000" (PDF). Graillier.free.fr. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  4. ↑ Liner Notes CD: Archiw I-II ( Sudio Zünd (2008)), p. 34.
  5. ↑ "Décès de Michel Graillier, pianiste de l'ouverture et de l'aventure". Le Monde.
  6. 1 2 "Jazz magazine article" (PDF). Jazz Magazine n°260. December 1977. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  7. ↑ Dictionnaire du Jazz, Bouquins, Robert Laffond, 2000
  8. ↑ "Michel Graillier - Works". Graillier.free.fr. 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.