Claude Bolling (10 April 1930 – 29 December 2020) was a French

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor.

Biography

He was born in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

, France, and studied at the Nice Conservatory, and then in Paris. A child prodigy, by the age of 14 he was playing jazz piano professionally, with Lionel Hampton,

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

, and

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...

. Bolling's books on jazz technique show that he did not delve far beyond

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

into much

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Ori ...

. He was a major part of the traditional jazz revival in the late 1960s, and he became friends with Oscar Peterson. He wrote music for over one hundred films, including a 1957 documentary about the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, and films such as '' The Hands of Orlac'' (1960), '' World in My Pocket'' (1961), '' Me and the Forty Year Old Man'' (1965), '' Atlantic Wall'' (1970), ''

Borsalino Borsalino is the oldest Italian company specializing in the manufacture of luxury hats. Since 1857, the manufacture has been based in Alessandria, Piedmont. The founder, Giuseppe Borsalino, is remembered for creating a particular model of felt ...

'' (1970), ''

To Catch a Spy ''To Catch a Spy'' is a 1971 comedy spy film directed by Dick Clement and starring Kirk Douglas, Marlène Jobert, Trevor Howard, Richard Pearson, Garfield Morgan, Angharad Rees and Robert Raglan. It was written by Clement and Ian La Frenai ...

'' (1971), '' Le Magnifique'' (1973), '' Borsalino & Co.'' (1974), '' Flic Story'' (1975), '' The Passengers'' (1977), '' Silver Bears'' (1978), ''

California Suite ''California Suite'' is a 1976 play by Neil Simon. Similar in structure to his earlier ''Plaza Suite'', the comedy is composed of four playlets set in Suite 203-04, which consists of a living room and an adjoining bedroom with an ensuite bath, in ...

'' (1978), '' Jigsaw (L'Homme en colère)'' (1979), '' The Awakening'' (1980), '' Willie & Phil'' (1980), '' Three Men to Kill'' (1980), ''

The Bay Boy ''The Bay Boy'' is a 1984 Canadian drama film. It is a semi-autobiographical film based on director Daniel Petrie's experiences of growing up in Glace Bay, a mining town on Cape Breton Island, during the Great Depression. It features the screen de ...

'' (1984), '' He Died with His Eyes Open'' (1985), '' Try This One for Size'' (1989) and ''

Chance or Coincidence ''Hasards ou coïncidences'' is a French film directed by Claude Lelouch, released in 1998. Starring * Alessandra Martines : ''Myriam Lini'' * Pierre Arditi : ''Pierre Turi'' * Marc Hollogne : ''Marc Deschamps'' * Véronique Moreau : ''Catherine ...

'' (1998). Bolling was also noted for a series of "crossover" collaborations with classical musicians. His '' Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio'' with

Jean-Pierre Rampal Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the Western concert flute, flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th ce ...

, a mix of Baroque elegance with modern swing, has been a top seller for many years, and was followed up by other works in the same vein. It was particularly popular in the United States, at the top of the hit parade for two years after its release and on the '' Billboard'' top 40 for 530 weeks, roughly ten years. Following his work with Rampal, Bolling went on to work with many other musicians, from different genres, including guitarist

Alexandre Lagoya Alexandre Lagoya (29 June 1929 – 24 August 1999) was a French classical guitarist and composer. His early career included boxing and guitar, and as he cites on the sleeve of a 1981 Columbia album, his parents hoped he would outgrow his predilecti ...

, violinist

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman ( he, פנחס צוקרמן, born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zuk ...

, trumpeter

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the picc ...

, and cellist

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

. He also worked with and performed tributes to many others, including Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington,

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the fi ...

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, and Oscar Peterson. Bolling was also notable as the composer of the ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...

'' animated features '' Daisy Town'' (1971) and '' La Ballade des Dalton'' (1978).

Discography

* ''French Jazz'' (Bally, 1956) * ''Rolling with Bolling'' (Omega Disk, 1957) * ''Joue Duke Ellington'' (Fontana, 1960) * ''Jazzgang Amadeus Mozart'' (Philips, 1965) * ''Original Ragtime'' (Philips, 1967) * ''Original Boogie Woogie'' (Philips, 1968) * ''Original Piano Blues'' (Philips, 1969) * ''Original Jazz Classics Piano'' (Philips, 1970) * '' Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio'' with Jean-Pierre Rampal (Columbia Masterworks, 1975) * ''With the Help of My Friends'' (Who's Who in Jazz, 1975) * ''Concerto for Classic Guitar and Jazz Piano'' with Alexander Lagoya (CBS, 1976) * ''Suite for Violin and Jazz Piano'' (Columbia Masterworks, 1977) * ''Jazz Gala 79'' (America, 1979) * ''Concerto for Classic Guitar and Jazz Piano'' with Angel Romero (Angel, 1980) * ''Picnic Suite'' (CBS, 1980) * ''Bolling: Toot Suite'' with Maurice Andre (CBS, 1981) * ''Suite for Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Piano'' with Jean-Pierre Rampal (CBS, 1983) * ''The Original Bolling Blues'' (Mercury, 1983) * ''Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio'' with Yo Yo Ma (CBS Masterworks, 1984) * ''Bolling andplays Ellington usic' (CBS, 1987) CBS CD MK42474 (1987) * ''Bolling: Suite No. 2 for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio'' (CBS, 1987) * ''Sonatas for Two Pianists'' (CBS, 1989) * ''Warm Up the Band'' (Columbia, 1991) * ''Cross Over U.S.A.'' (Milan, 1993) * ''Enchanting Versailles: Strictly Classical'' (Milan, 1995) * ''Suite for Flute and Piano Jazz Trio'' (Acte Préalable, 1999) * ''Suite for Violin and Piano Jazz Trio'' (Acte Préalable, 1999) * ''Suite for Cello and Piano Jazz Trio'' (Acte Préalable, 1999) * Bolling Big Band: ''Gershwin In Swing'' (CAID, 2003) * ''Bolling: Suite for Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Piano Trio'' (Mérida, 2011)

References

External links

*
Official site
*
Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolling, Claude 1930 births 2020 deaths Big band bandleaders French composers French male composers French jazz pianists 20th-century French male pianists French jazz composers Male jazz composers Animation composers French film score composers People from Cannes Columbia Records artists 21st-century French male pianists