Bernard Vitet (26 May 1934 – 3 July 2013) was a French trumpeter, multi-instrumentist and composer, co-founder of the first

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

band in France (1964) together with François Tusques,

Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) 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". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on 27 ...

Unit (1972) and

Un Drame Musical Instantané Un Drame Musical Instantané, since its creation in 1976, featuring Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé, has decided to promote collective musical creation, co-signing their albums, which they consider as artworks in themselves, or ...

with

Jean-Jacques Birgé Jean-Jacques Birgé (born 5 November 1952) is an independent French musician and filmmaker, at once music composer (co-founder of Un Drame Musical Instantané with which he recorded about 30 albums, as well as for movies, theater, dance, radio), ...

and Francis Gorgé in 1976.

Early life and career

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, Vitet was involved in the early fusion of jazz and contemporary music with Bernard Parmegiani and Jean-Louis Chautemps. In the 1960s, he accompanied singers such as

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

, Barbara,

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand (), was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a ...

Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of " Comme d'habitude" ( ...

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

Colette Magny Colette Magny (31 October 1926 – 12 June 1997) was a French singer and songwriter. A charismatic performer who did not record until her thirties, her work encompassed blues, jazz, protest songs, experimental music and spoken word recording ...

, and

Brigitte Fontaine Brigitte Fontaine (born 24 June 1939) is a French singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereola ...

. He played with jazz musicians such as

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. He played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins. After concluding a playing career in the A ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

, the

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jaz ...

Steve Lacy Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, '' ...

Gato Barbieri Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his colla ...

, and

Martial Solal Martial Solal (23 August 1927 – 12 December 2024) was a French jazz pianist and composer. Life and career Solal was born in Algiers, French Algeria on 23 August 1927, to Algerian Jewish parents. He was persuaded to study clarinet, saxophone, ...

. In his early years, he performed with

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

Gus Viseur Gustave Joseph Viseur (17 May 1915 – 25 August 1974) was a Belgian/French accordionist. Early life Viseur was born in Lessines, Belgium, on 17 May 1915. His father was a bargeman, so the family moved around a lot until 1920, when they settled i ...

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. Primarily an alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist, Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain ...

, and

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...

. Under his own name he recorded ''Surprise-partie avec Bernard Vitet'' (on trombone!), ''La Guêpe'' on texts by

Francis Ponge Francis Jean Gaston Alfred Ponge (; 27 March 1899 – 6 August 1988) was a French poet. He developed a form of prose poem, minutely examining everyday objects. He was the third recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1974. ...

, ''Mehr Licht!'', and about 200 other records with the aforementioned, plus Jean-Claude Fohrenbach,

Georges Arvanitas Georges Arvanitas (June 13, 1931 – September 25, 2005) was a French jazz pianist and organist. Life and career He was born in Marseille, a child of Greek immigrants from Constantinople. At the age of four he began studying piano and initially ...

Sunny Murray James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming. Biography Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an ...

, Michel Pascal,

Alan Silva Alan Lee da Silva (born 22 January 1939, in Bermuda) is an American free jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known as a double bassist. He has recorded on keyboards, violin, cello and trumpet among other instruments. Biography Silva was born a ...

Alexander von Schlippenbach Alexander von Schlippenbach (born 7 April 1938) is a German jazz pianist and composer. He came to prominence in the 1960s playing free jazz in a trio with saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lovens, and as a member of the Globe Unity Orch ...

, Hubert Rostaing,

Alix Combelle Alix Combelle (15 June 1912 – 26 February 1978 :fr:Alix Combelle) was a French swing saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. He recorded often with Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Career A native of Paris, his f ...

Ivan Jullien Ivan Jullien (October 27, 1934 – January 3, 2015) was a French jazz trumpeter. Jullien played with Claude Bolling and Jacques Denjean early in his career, and was the bandleader for the Paris Jazz All Stars in 1966-1967. He recorded as a leader ...

, Christian Chevalier, Jef Gilson, Jack Diéval,

Jac Berrocal Jacques "Jac" Berrocal (born 22 October 1946, Saint-Jean d'Angély) is a French trumpeter, singer and composer. He has been active since the 1970s in the independent and avant-garde music scene, and has released many albums. He also founded and p ...

, Hélène Sage and 17 albums with Un drame musical instantané. In 1995, he co-signs the songs of ''Carton'' with Birgé, with whom he collaborates on music for films, exhibitions, and CD-Roms. Vitet invented instruments such as a reed trumpet, a multiphonic French horn, a variable tension double-bass, the dragoon which is a giant balafon with frying pans and flower pots keyboard, a clever system of modal clocks, and astonishing musical objects for

Georges Aperghis Georges Aperghis (; born 23 December 1945) is a Greek composer working primarily in the field of experimental music theater but has also composed a large amount of non- programmatic chamber music. Career Aperghis worked with Pierre Schaeffer ...

, Tamia, and Françoise Achard. Besides trumpet, he sang and played

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

, piano and violin. He composed theatre music for Jean-Marie Serrault, and for the films (''Les coeurs verts'' by Édouard Luntz, ''L'ombre de la pomme'' by Robert Lapoujade with Jean-Louis Chautemps, ''Bof'' by Claude Faraldo in collaboration with Jean Guérin,Jean Guérin ''Tacet'', Futura Son 14, 1971 and ''La femme-bourreau'' by Jean-Denis Bonan. From 1976 to 2008, he devoted himself primarily to Un Drame Musical Instantané with Jean-Jacques Birgé, improvising and composing hundreds of pieces together, experimental essays as well as symphonic pieces, songs as well as music for films. Un D.M.I., as a trio or with their 15-piece orchestra, presented multimedia shows involving cinema, video, literature, dance and new technologies. Sit
drame.org
offers hundreds of unissued pieces free to listen and download.

Notes

Sources

* Philippe Carles and Jean-Louis Comolli, ''Free Jazz Black Power'', Ed. Champ Libre, coll.10-18, 1971, p. 418-419 * Philippe Carles, André Clergeat and Jean-Louis Comolli, ''Dictionnaire du jazz'', Ed. Robert Laffont, Coll. Bouquins, Paris, 1994, p. 1220-1221.

External links

*
Site of Un drame musical instantané

''Mémoires d'un dilettante''
in Les Allumés du Jazz n°5, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vitet, Bernard 1934 births French classical composers French male classical composers 20th-century French classical composers 21st-century French classical composers 21st-century French male composers Bebop trumpeters Free jazz trumpeters 2013 deaths French experimental musicians French jazz trumpeters French male trumpeters Avant-garde jazz trumpeters French jazz composers French male jazz composers 20th-century French trumpeters 21st-century French trumpeters 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians 20th-century jazz composers 21st-century jazz composers