Franck Avitabile

There's no disputing the talent of the Franck Avitabile New Trio , featuring extraordinary young French pianist Franck Avitabile, performing both his own material and brilliant re-workings of the standards"Montreal Jazz Festival"His new trio with Rémi Vignolo, bassist in the drive irresistible, and Dré Pallemærts, drummer quite ears, is sensational."Michel Contat, Télérama Franck Avitabile "New Trio" wins the "Victoire du Jazz 2004" Award, category " French Revelation of the year " (Franck Tenot Prize)August in Paris
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Add to My Profile | More Videos"I'm trying to get a sound as clear and as beautiful as possible. I don't see why the sound from classical pianists should be better than that of jazz pianists. There is no reason for that. Music is the same for all..." One who has never heard Franck play a Brahms Intermezzo, ignores how much this sentence of this young pianist, is full of sincerity. An unique sound, a true fingerprint of a musician fascinated by his illustrious seniors (Bud Powell, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea or Michel Petrucciani...) and more than likely Michelangeli or Horowitz, this sound - as beautiful as it is - would be only decorative if it was not complementary to the writing. "To write, as Cocteau said, is an act of love. If it is not, then it is only writing".Franck Avitabile writes just like a gold digger who would seize his treasures with full hands in order to share its glitter. From his searches into Bach's Chorals, he has brought in this harmonic wealth and sense of dissonance, to which his improvisations owe their peculiarity. His melodies are so mny recollections, conscious or not, of the composers, he keeps on studying almost everyday on his keyboard : Debussy, Ravel, Brahms, and Chopin. Still for all that, Franck stands as an authentic jazzman. But it's surely the strength of his technique and musical culture - jazz and classical - which makes him fly so high, so far, always more free and inspired. A tree takes no chances teasing the sky when its roots are deep. With Short Stories where flows the spirit of other short stories, from Debussy's Children's Corner to Schumann's Scène d'Enfants, Franck Avitabile is no longer on earth. Of course, one may always be reassured by calling him a jazzman, a pianist or both at the same time. But, just as for Chopin or Brahms who were not the worst pianists, these Short Stories should let us forget the tool in favour of the essential : the Music."Arièle Butaux. May 2006Franck Avitabile has performed or recorded with Pino Palladino, Manu Katché, Jan Garbarek, Wynton Marsalis, Steve Grossman, Bireli Lagrène, Martial Solal, Bendik Hofseth, Trygve Seim, Niels-Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Aldo Romano, Laurent Vernerey, Lisa Ekdahl, Sheila Jordan, Elise Caron, Kim Thompson, Herlin Riley, Leon Parker, Alex Tassel, Guillaume Naturel, Minino Garay, André Ceccarelli, Daniel Humair, Stéphane Huchard, George Brown, Roberto Gatto, Tony Rabeson, Riccardo Del Fra, Cesarius Alvim, Eric Le Lann, Sylvain Luc, Louis Winsberg, Olivier Louvel, Stefano di Battista, Rosario Giuliani, Manuel Rochman, Baptiste Trotignon, Daniel Huck, David Linx, Jean Loup Longnon, Yves Rousseau, Maria Schneider, Rick Margitza, Gene Perla, Gildas Boclé, Diego Imbert, Frank Agulhon, Lemon Minassian, Christophe Monniot, Jérôme Regard, David Sauzay, Hadrien Feraud, Henri Texier, Yodelice, Geraldine Laurent, Marcela Roggeri, Modigliani String Quartet, Louis Petrucciani...1971 24th November : Born in Lyon, France. Son of Alain, urban architect (arrived from Algeria in 1965) and of Francine, born Badak, civil servant (daughter of a political refugee, arrived from ex-Yugoslavia in 1948). Paternal Grandfather is Italian (Agerola, Napoli, Italy). 1976 : Shows a fascination for music and astonishingly quickly develops his natural abilities; reproduces TV theme tunes on a toy piano. 1980 – 1988 : Enters the Conservatoire de Région (CN.R. Lyon) after six months of private lessons. His musical teaching (Mme Thomasson, Mme Poncet) focusses exclusively on the classical repertoire: Mozart, Bach, Brahms, Foret, Debussy. 1985 : Parent's divorce ; moves into the Saint-Paul quarter of Lyon, above a Jazz Club run by the pianist Tchangodeï. 1988 : Discovers new horizons with the release of two CD : Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, can’t stop listening to it. Finds his classical apprenticeship too strict, where personal interpretations seemed impossible. Having gained his diploma in musical training, he takes a class in introductory improvisation for classical pianists with Mario Stanchev. 1990 – 1994 : Accepted into the C.N.R Jazz Class. Listens and learns the repertoire of the keyboard masters, impressing successive panels of judges; picking up the gold medal in 1994. The previous year he wins the Rive de Giers Big Band Competition with a duet, piano and drums (C. Perrot). 1993 – 1995 : Accepted into l’École Normale Supérieure de Lyon for a Masters Degree in Fundamental Informatics, obtaining a Masters in Discreet Mathematics, a D.E.A. (online recognition of series-parallel posets) and a Ph D scholarship. Takes an internship for two months at The IRCAM around the Sieves of Y. Xenakis. Goes to live for three months in New York to do an internship at CUNY (City University of New York, USA) with the Russian researcher Victor Pan who had completely forgotten he was coming! He jams frequently at the Blue Note et Small’s, which had just opened, takes lessons (and a big reality check) with Fred Hersch and discovers the music of Bud Powell under the fingers of a young unknown pianist. 1995 : Joins the Collectif Mu, a gathering of young Jazz musicians (Mâcon), founder of Crescent Jazz Club in tribute to John Coltrane. Records a first tribute to Bud Powell. Fifty copies will be burned unofficially at Cryo Interactive thanks to the kindness of a friend working in the development of video games. 1996 : His departure for military service (Paris, Versailles) allows him for the first time to have enough time to concentrate entirely on music, and to prepare and gain entry to the Conservatoire de Paris. He finishes two years later having raced through his studies at breakneck speed and excelling, gaining a special exemption from the Director. Unanimous winner of the First Prize. In December wins the competition of Vanves (92) presided by Martial Solal, with the prize being the production of an album, Lumières, and a thousand copies made. In the company of the double bassist Louis Petrucciani (met during a Roy Haynes master class) and the young drummer Thomas Grimmonprez, it contains Franck’s first compositions. 1997 : Participates in the project Silent Call by Riccardo Del Fra with François Jeanneau, Benjamin Henocq and a string orchestra at the Auditorium des Halles and at the jazz festival in La Défense (92). France Music Radio broadcasts a live concert of the Franck Avitabile Trio, in a program titled “Les surprises de Martial Solal”. On this occasion, the latter asks Louis Petrucciani if his brother Michel knows Franck. The response is negative. The magazine Jazzman cites his name amongst the hundred new talents and awards a *** to Lumières, maximum marks at the time for a non-commercial album : « More than technique already well asserted, Avitabile has got music within him. Intense and personal. » 1998 : Michel Petrucciani listens to a bad cassette copy of Lumières in his brother Louis’ car, in the middle of the night. The latter, an enthusiast, convinces Francis Dreyfus to sign him and decides to sponsor and produce his first disc. Finding the compositions needing more work, Michel Petrucciani proposes constructing the album around Bud Powell and giving it the title ‘In Tradition’. Franck, hungry for his precious advice, doesn’t need much persuading. On release it is a critical and commercial success. First magazine covers : Jazz Notes, Blablah Thema, and record of the month on FIP radio, who fall in love with the young unknown artist. Wins Second Grand Prize for the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition in Paris which helps to finance his Steinway. 1998 – 2000 : Resident at the Cité Internationale des Arts, on the banks of the Seine in the Saint-Paul quarter (Paris 4°). 1999 : Wins a Django d’Or in the Best Prospect category. The death of Michel Petrucciani affects Franck who since then has played one of the pianists compositions at every concert. This year is highlighted by the number of concerts and festivals, including the Parc Floral de Paris, Nice Jazz Festival, San Sebastian Jazz Festival in Spain, Le Printemps des Arts in Monaco... Stops his teaching activities (Limay, 78) to concentrate entirely on being a concert pianist and composer. An anecdote that made the front cover of Lyon’s newspaper Le Progrès: It happened on July 6th at Troisgros, the famous three stars restaurant. No sound mixing or concert involved, but a feast of delights for Avitabile, a lunch with a very tasty story. A few days earlier the young jazzman had been interviewed on the French radio Europe 1 by Dominique Souchier, a journalist from the town of Roanne. He didn’t know that one of his most faithful listeners was none other than the ex minister Jean Auroux. The Mayor of Roanne then learned that the big hope of French jazz had composed a piece called Trois Gros. Avitabile added that he dreamt of going for lunch at the famous restaurant (of the same name). The next day, the town’s first magistrate offered Avitabile to come to Troisgros in Roanne, which he gladly did! 2000 – 2001 : Records his second opus for Dreyfus Jazz : Right Time in the company of the legendary Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (last album of N.H.Ø.P) on double bass and Roberto Gatto on drums. He publishes several compositions. The album receives **** reviews in the American publications Down Beat, Jazz Times, All About Jazz, Jazz Journal International, as it does in France. First concerts abroad: Bologna (Italy), Warsaw (Poland), Grenada (Spain), Portimao (Portugal). Concerts with Wynton Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Leon Parker at Jazz in Marciac, Steve Grossman in Paris and live on France Musique. With a Jazz trio at Ramatuelle, l’Opéra de Lyon, the Château de Grignan, and the Théâtre de Hyères. He is promoted to Talent in Midem and appears on the news at 1pm and 8pm on TF1 French Television. 2001 : Jazzman magazine publishes a long interview with Franck about his system of discreet reharmonisation which allows you to hear an old record like a brand new composition. He is named artist of the month. Records an album The Paris Jazz Quintet in Holland for TCB Record (Swiss label), directed by Alex Tassel & Guillaume Naturel, with André Ceccarelli on drums. 2002 : The producer and director Claude Berri calls him for original music in his film Une Femme de Ménage (Jean-Pierre Bacri, Emilie Duquenne). Records improvisations around the music of the composer Frédéric Botton. 2002 : Records a third opus for Dreyfus Jazz : Bemsha Swing with the old double bassist Rémi Vignolo and the Belgian drummer Dré Pallemærts, who make up his working trio. Introduced to a new concept of trompe l’œil. Concerts in Switzerland, Greece, Belgium, Canada, France. 2002 : Violently attacked just before the release of Bemsha Swing leaving him completely unable to work for fifteen days. 2003 : Mezzo TV broadcasts a documentary on the life of Franck Avitabile, ‘88 touches de plaisir’ directed by Patrick Savey. The magazine Télérama attributes TT to this programme. 2004 – 2008 : Decisive encounter at Manège Theatre (Maubeuge) with the electric bass guitar player Pino Palladino and the drummer Manu Katché following the withdrawal of the guitarist Dominic Miller to go on tour with Sting. Formation of the group Manu Katché Tendances, with about a hundred or so concerts worldwide. Franck also plays with a Fender Rhodes and a Nordlead, the repertoire subtely flirting with electro jazz. 2004 : “Victoire du Jazz” Awarded in category Revelation of the Year (Frank Tenot Prize). Deuville. 2005 – 2006 : Records his fourth and fifth opus for Dreyfus Jazz from two successive piano solo albums: Just Play and Short Stories. Both obtain the CHOC from Jazzman magazine. Télérama even awards - for the first time - all four clefs (ffff) for the second solo album. The newspaper Le Monde dedicates a full page to him on his birthday. RTL Radio describes the first solo album as astounding. Guest of Philippe Lefait, France 2 (Les Mots de Minuit). Franck manages to establish more and more his independence and prominence in the highly competitive and cluttered French Jazz pianists scene. 2007 : Arièle Butaux commissions a Quintet entitled Opus 52 to Franck who collaborates with the Modigliani String Quartet for a first performance at the Petit Palais (Paris). A movement from the Schumann Quintet is also on the programme. 2007 – 2009 First gigs with Aldo Romano and Diego Imbert for a repertoire based on Michel Petrucciani. His trio continues working together with Franck’s original compositions. 2008 : First solo tour of China and the Piano aux Jacobins festival. Beijing, Shanghai. Moves to Issy les Moulineaux (92) and marries privately. DVD release of the Dreyfus Night recorded at the Monte Carlo Jazz Festival. In the company of Steve Grossman, Bireli Lagrène, … 2009 : Records his sixth album for Dreyfus Jazz, Paris Sketches with electric bass guitarist Pino Palladino and the drummer Manu Katché. It’s the first time that an entire album is constructed solely from Franck’s compositions. Guest on the Arte Television show One Shot Not. This opus firmly establishes Avitabile as a superb composer, few of his French contempories have got his sense of melody.Franck Avitabile is a Steinway Artist. Translation : James Simpson (Rev. 11/6/09)