Colin Vallon (17 November 1980 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

Biography

Vallon studied classical music for two years before he started studies with jazz pianist Marc Ueter at fourteen years of age. In 1998 he attended the Swiss Jazz School and studied with Silvano Bazan, William Evans, Manuel Bärtsch, and

Bert Joris Bert Joris (born 18 January 1957 in Antwerp) is an internationally renowned jazz trumpeter, composer and arranger from Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwest ...

. Colin Vallon Trio was founded in 1999, with bassist Lorenz Beyeler and drummer Raphaël Pedroli, releasing his debut album ''Les Ombres'' in 2004. He started to develop his own piano techniques at this time and the trio opens the Swiss Diagonales Festival with New-York guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. In 2005 he forms a new trio with bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Samuel Rohrer, releasing the album ''Ailleurs'' (2007) on the label HatHut Records. The third trio album ''Rruga'' was released in 2011 on the ECM label. Rohrer was replaced by drummer Julian Sartorius in 2012. The fourth album ''Le Vent'' was released in 2014. The trio has been very active on the international jazz scene. Numerous concerts at international festivals in places like Wilisau, Paris, Vienne, Rome, London, Portland, Montreal, in addition to tours in Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan, South Korea. Vallon has also composed much music like the music of the choreographical piece ''Hallo'' by Martin Zimmermann. He was part of the creation of ''Gossenreiter'', a documentary Film. In 2015 the «Bee-Flat» jazz and world music venue in Bern, gives him a Carte Blanche to present three new projects, ''Ocre'', a psychedelic rock oriented quartet with trumpeter Matthieu Michel, bassist Flo Götte, and drummer Domi Chansorn, ''Coriolis'', a minimal improvisation quartet with vocalist and electronica artist Joy Frempong and clarinetist

Hans Koch Hans Koch (16 August 1893 – 24 April 1945) was a German lawyer, a member of the Confessional Church and a member of the German resistance against Nazism. Koch was born in Bartenstein, East Prussia (modern Bartoszyce, Poland), he graduated ...

, and ''Fauna'', a composition for cellos, harps, saxophones and drums, inspired by the strangeness of the animal world. Vallon was awarded the Fridl-Wald Foundation Prize, the 1st Prize in the Competition Nescafé Let's Jazz Together, and the 3rd Prize in the Montreux International Jazz Piano Solo Competition. In 2004 Pro Helvetia commissioned a composition by him and he founded a new quintet, ''Colin Vallon Cinq'' with French trumpeter Erik Truffaz. In 2008 he won the Nico Kaufmann Foundation prize and in 2009 the SUISA foundation prize. 2009 the Colin Vallon trio won the Pro Helvetia high priority jazz promotion, and he was nominated for the 2016 Swiss Music Prize and in 2017 he was the recipient of the «Prix de la Relève du Canton de Vaud».

Discography (in selection)

Solo albums

; With Colin Vallon Trio *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: ''Les Ombres'' (Unit Records), with Lorenz Beyeler and Raphaël Pedroli * 2006: ''Ailleurs'' (hatOLOGY), with Patrice Moret and Samuel Rohrer * 2011: ''Rruga'' (

ECM ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathematics ...

), with Patrice Moret and Samuel Rohrer *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: ''Le Vent'' (ECM), with Patrice Moret and Julian Sartorius *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

: ''Danse'' (ECM), with Patrice Moret and Julian Sartorius

Collaborations

; With Daniel Schläppi feat. Jürg Bucher and Colin Vallon *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

: ''Dimensions'' ( Brambus) ; With Contreband (Colin Vallon, Lorenz Beyeler, Raphaël Pedroli) *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: ''Contreband'' (Unit Records) ; With Nicolas Masson, Patrice Moret, and

Lionel Friedli Lionel Friedli (born 1975 in Moutier) is a Swiss 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. Sinc ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: ''Travelers'' (ECM)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vallon, Colin Swiss jazz pianists 1980 births Living people People from Lausanne 21st-century pianists