Julien Lourau (born 3/2/1970) is 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 ...
saxophonist. He is the son of sociologist
René Lourau
René Lourau (; 26 August 1933, Gelos – 11 January 2000, Versailles, Yvelines
Versailles ( , ) is a commune in the department of the Yvelines, Île-de-France, known worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, ...
.
Julien Lourau made his début in the group
Trash Corporation with guitarist
Noël Akchoté
Noël Akchoté (born 7 December 1968) is a French guitarist in free improvisation, classical, experimental, and free jazz.
Career
Starting on guitar at when he was eight years old,Philippe Carles, André Clergeat et Jean-Louis Comolli, ''Dictio ...
and pianist
Bojan Zulfikarpasic. He also founded the group
Olympic Gramofon with
Sébastien Martel,
Vincent Ségal
Vincent Ségal (born 1967 in Reims, France) is a French cellist and bassist.
He studied at the National Music Academy of Lyon and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. He is mainly known for the variety of his collaborations and unusual proj ...
,
Eric Löhrer
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...
,
Cyril Atef, and
DJ Shalom.
In 1992, Julien Lourau won the first soloist prize in
La Défense
La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...
and went on to set up his
Groove Gang.
In 1999, he experimented with electronic music for his album ''Gambit'' which attracted a following from young French people and led to a number of successful concerts. He won that year's jazz trophy at the "Victoires de la Musique" awards. He returned to a more traditional jazz in 2002 with the album ''The rise'', regarded as his most mature album. 2007 saw the release of ''Julien Lourau vs Rumbabierta'' which combines Lourau's avant-garde jazz with Afro-Cuban sounds. Julien Lourau also collaborated with the hip hop dance collectif le Groove Gang in a show untitled « Come fly with us ». By doing so, he encountered the French hip hop dance pioneer Bintou Demébélé, who was at the moment a member of the Groove Gang. Julien Lourau will thereafter invite her to dance at some of his concerts.
His composition includes forms absorbed from Latin, African, Caribbean and European folk music.
Kevin Le Gendre
Kevin Le Gendre is a British journalist, broadcaster and author whose work focuses on Black music. He is deputy editor of '' Echoes'' magazine, has written for a wide range of publications, including '' Jazzwise'', '' MusicWeek'', '' Vibrations'' ...
Julien Lourau ''Saigon Quartet'' Review
BBC, 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2010-06-03
Discography
* ''Groove Gang'' (Label Bleu, 1995)
* ''City Boom Boom'' (Warner, 1998)
* ''Gambit'' (Warner, 2000)
* ''The Rise'' (Label Bleu, 2001)
* ''Fire & Forget'' (Label Bleu, 2005)
* ''Forget'' (Label Bleu, 2005)
* ''Julien Lourau VS Rumbabierta'' (Label Bleu, 2007)
* ''Quartet Saigon'' (Naive, 2009)
* ''Duo'' (2birds1stone, 2015)
* ''Julien Lourau & The Groove Retrievers'' (2birds1stone, 2017)
References
External links
*
Julien Lourau's page at Label Bleu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lourau, Julien
1970 births
Living people
French jazz saxophonists
Male saxophonists
21st-century French saxophonists
21st-century French male musicians
French male jazz musicians
Naïve Records artists
Warner Records artists
Label Bleu artists