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Laurent Coq was born on Feb 22, 1970 in Marseille.
The youngest of five boys, he grew up in the countryside around
Aix-en-Provence. He started studying piano at age 7. Three years
later, he entered the Aix National Dance and Music Conservatory
in Ms Courtin's class (also Helene Grimaud's teacher).
In 1988, he was awarded First Prize and moved to Paris where he
registered at the C.I.M (in those days, the number one jazz school
in France). He studied with Emmanuel Bex, and met with drummer Daniel
Garcia Bruno and bass player Jules Bikoko bi Njami with whom he
formed the Ad For Tri trio.
From 1989 to 1994, he multiplied experiences.
He played in alto saxophonist Patrick Bocquel's Quintet, a band
that made quite an impact in winning numerous competitions, one
of which the CRPLF (French-as-a-first-language National Radios),
led to the recording of Radio Days. He also took part in
vibraphone player Oriol Bordas's band, Paris Barcelona Swing
Connection. Among the many performances, there was a french
tour with special guest American Saxophonist Frank Wess (Vienne
1993). One must also mention his collaboration with singer Marcel
Kanche, with whom he toured Europe and recorded two albums (Barclay).
In 1994, he obtained a Grant from the French Government
for a six months stay in New York. He took lessons from piano players
Mulgrew Miller and John Hicks, but most notably from Bruce Barth
who will soon become his mentor and a true friend, which he remains
to this day. Back in Paris, Laurent turned this precious experience
into a Quartet that included his old pals Jules Bikoko bi Njami
and Daniel Garcia Bruno and young tenor Jean-Christophe Béney.
In 1996, the composer signed his first film score
for actor/director Alain Beigel. Il y a des journées
qui mériteraient qu'on leur casse la gueule won First
Prize at the Meudon Short Films Festival, and the Grand Prix at
the 1997 Metz Festival.
In February 1997, the quartet went to New York
to record the first album as leader. Bruce Barth wore the artistic
producer's hat and David Baker engineered the session. Thanks to
Bruce, the album will be released on prestigious german label Enja.
Jaywalker was
an immediate success with the critics, and this first public recognition
has since being maintained.
Not long before, Laurent Coq had met with singer Laurence Allison,
and together they started to work thoroughly on Duke Ellington's
repertoire. In 1997, they recorded Soul Calls, with a two-saxophones
sextet.
After six years of complicity, Daniel Garcia Bruno chose to devote
himself to more personal projects, and Philippe Soirat took over
the drums in the leader's quartet. Two years of hard work will produce
a new repertoire still very much influenced by the New York scene,
and an even more distinctive sound. At the time, Laurent Coq pursued
his close collaboration with Laurence Allison taking a fresh approach
to Bud Powell's and Thelonious Monk's worlds of music..
On the movie front, 1997 was an intense year.
Teaming up with guitar player and composer Benjamin Raffaelli, Laurent
signed the film scores of Laurent Benegui's Mauvais
Genre, and
J'irai au paradis car l'enfer est ici by Xavier Durringer. In
1998, Laurent and Benjamin met again on Mille
Bornes by Alain Beigel...
In 1999, Laurent Coq produced two albums in New York;
Versatile with
his own quartet -- with the same Jaywalker
crew comprising of Bruce Barth as artistic producer and David Baker
as sound engineer -- and Laurence Allison's Thelonious &
Bud Together Again with her sextet. It will take more than
a year for these two recordings to be published on the Cristal label,
but this tenacity will be rewarded with unanimous praise.
The same year, Laurent signed the original score of the fairy tale
Airou ! J'ai compris written and directed by Michel Uzan
for the National Theater of Nanterre.
In 2000, he settled in New York where
he met with another French expatriate, the saxophone player Jérôme
Sabbagh. Frequently, he came back to Europe, and soon presented
a one-of-a-kind trio with two saxophones (tenor David El-Malek and
alto Olivier Zanot). In 2001, while in Paris, the band played at
the Duc des Lombards and the concert was recorded by Claude Carriere
and Jean Delmas for their weekly show on French National Radio,
'Jazz Club'. Laurent
Coq Blowing Trio/Live@the Duc des Lombards received the Grand
Prix du Disque Charles Cros 2002.
On May 2001, Laurent was granted an American
Artist Visa. He was cast in Sarah Morrow's band for a few
appearances in the U.S, notably at the New York JVC Festival and
Washington jazz club Blues Alley. This was also the opportunity
for him to meet with Mark Turner.
Three days before 9-11, Laurent Coq flew back to Paris to record
Jean-Christophe Béney's Cassiope.
Most importantly, since the summer, the composer had a new quartet
that proudly endorsed New York dynamism. The group featured tenor
saxophonist Jérôme Sabbagh, and two young musicians
recently arrived from Los Angeles, bass player Brandon Owens and
drummer Damion Reid. Together, they were going to develop an original
music that was the natural consequence of the leader's previous
years of work. On several occasions, they traveled overseas, and
they performed at the 2002 Paris JVC Festival.
In 2002, Laurent Coq played every Monday in a Village joint in NY,
the Cafe Creole.
In March 2003, the quartet recorded Like
A Tree In The City in a New Jersey studio. The album came out
simultaneously in Europe on Cristal and in the U.S on Sunnyside,
and served as a milestone in the career of an artist who continues
to create a totally unique world.
Laurent Coq was nominated by the French Jazz Academy
for the Year's Best Musician Award.
In the fall of 2003, Laurent Coq signed the
original score for Laurent Benegui's Qui
perd gagne, written for a 72 piece symphonic orchestra (with
the exception of the closing credits song written for the Vintage
Orchestra and sung by Allen Hoist). The soundtrack was released
on june 22, 2004, one day before the movie. |
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In August 2004, Laurent got on stage for the
first time with a piano trio for four nights in a row at
the Sunside in Paris, bringing along a drummer with whom he played
quite a bit over the past years in New York, Otis Brown III. This
naturally led to the recording of his first piano trio album for
which he called the bass player everybody digs (Dianne Reeves, Joshua
Redman, Charles Llyod...), Reuben Rogers. The session took place
in a little Soho studio during two evenings of November 2004. Spinnin'
is to be released both in France (spring '05 on Cristal) and the
U.S (fall 2005 on Sunnyside).
In December 2004, French jazz magazine Jazzman asked him to conduct
an interview with guitar player Pat Metheny that made the February
issue front cover. He also wrote a long biography of soul singer
Donny Hathaway for new magazine Muziq.
The piano player spent the winter of 2005 in Paris
where he was in residence at the jazz club La Fontaine, alternating
with the Blowing trio featuring sax players David El-Malek and Olivier
Zanot, and another trio with Mathias Allamane on bass and drummer
Phiippe Soirat.
In June 2005, he played at the Paris Jazz Festival
for the release of Spinnin', along
with Darryl Hall and Otis Brown III.
In September 2005, Laurent was featured in Elisabeth Kontomanou's new album untitled Waiting For Spring playing two duos, including his own composition Claude Sait renamed The Bird In Me.
In October, he joined the Edim staff (Paris music school).
In 2006, Laurent multiplied his sideman engagements.
First with American Saxophonist Rick Margitza who had a weekly gig at la Fontaine.
That was also in this club that saxophonist Sophie Alour explored new directions and put her new quartet together along with Laurent.
In the same period of time, Singer Sonia Cat-Berro called our man on a regular basis.
In June 2006, french saxophonist Julien Lourau asked Laurent to replace Bojan Zulfikarpasic to play at the National Music Day. The next day, they flew to New York where they met with bass player Thomas Bramerie and drummer Ari Hoenig and then to Haiti for an intense week. They played two gigs there ; one in Port-au-Prince, and the other in Jacmel, cradle of Haitian's culture. The Quartet Jacmel was born.
In December 2006, Spinnin' is granted the Best French Album of the Year Award by French Jazz Academy.
During the winter of 2006, Laurent worked on two different film projects ;
With the Adami, he was asked to produce musical scores for short movies that will be presented at the Cannes Film Festival (Talents Cannes).
He was also commissioned by the TV channel Arte to illustrate five documentary directed by Antoine Roux that will be aired on prime time in November 2006.
In september 2006, the Blowing trio entered the recording studio for the making of leader's sixth album, the second with his atypical band (one piano, two saxs). Singer Laurence Allison was invited on two originals.
Two days after these sessions, Laurent flew to Japan where he performed solo for the first time. He did three shows, including one in front of five thousand people at the Sendaï Street Jazz Festival, to promote the release of Spinnin' on Japanese label Wards Records.
In the fall of 2006, alto Pierrick Pedron hired him to play with his quartet after the released of his acclaimed new album, Deep In A Dream (Nocturne).
In early December, Laurent went to Vietnam along with Julien Lourau and bass player Vincent Artaud. They met drummer Otis Brown III, longtime Laurent's partner (Spinnin'). They played in Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City, former Saigon.
Back from that trip, Laurent recorded Sophie Alour's new album untitled Uncaged (Nocturne) in Paris.
Laurent was nominated 2006 Best Musician by the French Jazz Academy.
In January 2007, with the Pierrick Pedron quartet, Laurent was invited to perform at the annual New York Jazz Conference, IAJE. He took advantage of his being there to mix Sophie Alour's album at the famous Avatar Studio.
The next day of his return, he joined Julien Lourau at the Lyon Opera Hall for three concerts with the Jacmel quartet (Thomas Bramerie and Ari Hoenig).
The new Blowing Trio album untitled The Thing To Share was released on March 8, 2007 on label Cristal. The band performed at famous Parisian venue The New Morning on April 25.
Sophie Alour's album, Uncaged, was released in May on label Nocturne. Numerous concerts were scheduled, including an African Tour (ten countries) in the fall of 2007.
Laurent also performed in many venues in France and abroad throughout the year with alto Pierrick Pedron's quartet .
Julien Lourau Saïgon Quartet was invited to perform three nights at the Paris Jazz Festival at La Villette in September 2007.
In 2008, Laurent continues to perform with his Blowing Trio, as well as Pierrick Pedron and Sophie Alour with whom he went twice in Algeria. Julien Lourau put his Saïgon quartet together again, with bass player Thomas Bramerie and drummer Otis Brown III, and took it to Podgorica, Montenegro. In june 2008, Laurent records Pierrick Pedron new album before leaving to New York where he is to spend all summer and where he will record Julien Lourau new album in September with sound engineer Katsuhiko Naito. Half of this new repertoire is written by Laurent.
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