Martial Solal


Martial Solal was a French jazz pianist and composer.
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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, and piano by his mother, who was an opera singer. He was expelled from school in 1942 because of his parents' Jewish ancestry. Solal educated himself after having studied classical music in school. He imitated music he heard on the radio. When he was 15, he performed publicly for United States Army audiences.
After settling in Paris in 1950, he began working with Django Reinhardt and U.S. expatriates such as Sidney Bechet and Don Byas. He formed a quartet in the late 1950s, although he had been recording as a leader since 1953. Solal then began composing film music, eventually providing over 20 scores. He composed music for Jean-Luc Godard's debut feature film Breathless.
In 1963, he made an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island; the Newport '63 album purporting to be a recording of this gig is actually a studio recreation with overdubbed applause, as documented in the sleeve notes of some later reissues. At this time, his trio included bassist Guy Pedersen and drummer Daniel Humair. From 1968, he performed and recorded with Lee Konitz in Europe and the U.S.
In its January 2011 issue, The Gruppen Review published a 12-page interview in which Solal discusses his work as an eternal "researcher in jazz".
Solal died in Versailles, Yvelines on 12 December 2024, at the age of 97.

Style

His jazz approach was once described by Jean-Pierre Thiollet as "brilliant, unique and intellectual" He has said of his technique: "You have to make people believe that it's very easy, even when it's very difficult. If you look to have trouble with the technique, it is no good. You must play the most difficult thing like this."

Discography

Leader

  • 1954: French Modern Sounds
  • 1954: Martial Solal Trio
  • 1959: '
  • 1960: Martial Solal
  • 1962: ' ; US release as In Concert/''Trio in Concert
  • 1962: '
  • 1963: '
  • 1963: Martial Solal and the European All Stars
  • 1964: '
  • 1965: Martial Solal
  • 1965: En Liberte
  • 1965: Son 66
  • 1966: En Direct Du Blue Note
  • 1970: Locomotion
  • 1970: '
  • 1975: 7 + 4 = X
  • 1975: Nothing but Piano
  • 1978: Suite for Trio
  • 1981: Big Band
  • 1983: Bluesine
  • 1984: Big Band
  • 1984: Plays Hodeir
  • 1991: Triptyque
  • 1991: Duo in Paris
  • 1995: '
  • 1996: Difficult Blues
  • 1997: '
  • 1998: Silent Cinema – Cinema Muet
  • 1998: Martial Solal, Vol. 2
  • 1999: '
  • 1999: En Solo
  • 1999: '
  • 2000: '
  • 2003: '
  • 2007: '
  • 2007: '
  • 2008: '
  • 2009: '
  • 2015: '
  • 2018: '
  • 2018: ''
  • 2021: ''''

Co-leader

Sideman

  • 1974: Jazz à Juan
  • 2005: ''Comptines Pour Enfants Seulement''