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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor.

Biography

He was born in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, 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 Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

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, and

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), known professionally as Kenny Clarke and 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 ...

. 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 (usually exceeding 200 bpm), complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerou ...

into much

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") 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 the late 1 ...

. He was a major part of the traditional jazz revival in the late 1960s, and he became friends with

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. He wrote music for over one hundred films, including a 1957 documentary about the

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

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'' (1970), '' Borsalino'' (1970), ''

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

'' (1971), '' Le Magnifique'' (1973), '' Enuff Is Enuff (J'ai mon voyage!)'', '' Borsalino & Co.'' (1974), '' Flic Story'' (1975), '' The Passengers'' (1977), '' Silver Bears'' (1978), '' California Suite'' (1978), '' Jigsaw (L'Homme en colère)'' (1979), '' The Awakening'' (1980), '' Willie & Phil'' (1980), '' Three Men to Kill'' (1980), '' The Bay Boy'' (1984), ''

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'' (1985), '' Try This One for Size'' (1989) and '' Chance or Coincidence'' (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, 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' 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, violinist

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, trumpeter

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, and cellist

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. He also worked with and performed tributes to many others, including

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) 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 first all-string jazz bands. ...

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, and

. Bolling was also notable as the composer of the ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western (genre), Western bande dessinée, comic album series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris (cartoonist), Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborati ...

'' 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 French jazz bandleaders French big band bandleaders French composers French jazz pianists 20th-century French male pianists French jazz composers French male jazz composers Animation composers French film score composers People from Cannes Columbia Records artists 21st-century French male pianists French male jazz pianists