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Jean Toussaint

The stageposts along Toussaint's career have all made their mark - the Caribbean, New York, and London. From a calypso band in his teens in St Thomas, Toussaint moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music where fellow students included Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Jeff Watts.

In 1982, he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. 'I learned more in four years with Art than I'd have learned in ten had I not got through that audition,' says Toussaint, who played alongside Mulgrew Miller, Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison and Lonnie Plaxico. While in New York, Toussaint also worked with Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner and Gil Evans, and regularly led the jam session at New York's Blue Note club. Touring with the Messengers, he always looked forward to London where he made friends amongst the capital's young musicians. 'I met Cleveland and Trevor Watkiss, Steve Williamson and Julian Joseph. Being of Caribbean descent myself, I saw similarities in the blend of musical influences - jazz, African, calypso and reggae.

In 1987, Toussaint accepted an invitation from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to teach improvisation for three months. He's still here. From London, Toussaint works extensively in Europe and the US with his bands: Nazaire and the Jean Toussaint Quartet.

In the last few years he has toured Europe with Max Roach, headlined at the world-famous Sweet Basil in New York, joined Cedar Walton in London and worked with Horace Silver. With a commission for composition from the Arts Council he has toured the UK with old friends Mulgrew Miller, Terence Blanchard and Reginald Veal.

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4
Album Review

Jean Toussaint: Live At The Jazz Cafe 091218

Read "Live At The Jazz Cafe 091218" reviewed by Chris May


Most times, the transatlantic flow of jazz musicians is from east to west. Less frequently, as with Jean Toussaint's relocation from New York to London, it is contrariwise. Hot from four years as a member of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers's Jazz Messengers, Toussaint arrived in Britain in 1987. He soon established himself as a bandleader, and also as teacher. One of his first pupils was Ingrid Laubrock. In 2008, Laubrock made the reverse journey, setting up home in ...

5
Album Review

Jean Toussaint Allstar 6tet: Brother Raymond

Read "Brother Raymond" reviewed by Roger Farbey


Jean Toussaint, a graduate of Berklee College of Music and an alumnus of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers has assembled a veritable all-star cast for his follow-up to Tate Song (Lyte Records, 2014). Even more remarkable is the permutation of personnel, which, other than Toussaint himself, changes on most tracks, affording a different perspective to the selections. The boisterous opener “Amabo (I Shall Love)" is a keenly-swinging number which betrays some Caribbean / Latin-esque influences. There are some great ...

11
Album Review

Jean Toussaint: Tate Song

Read "Tate Song" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Ten albums in twenty five years isn't prolific but in a world awash with inferior music saxophonist Jean Toussaint's unhurried approach has consistently produced high-quality recordings that stand the test of time. What's more, the lapses between releases make each production a bona fide event. Certainly, the four years since his live album and the nine since his previous studio effort, Continuum Act One (Space Time, 2005) have created an expectation around Tate Song, and true to form, Toussaint delivers ...

232
Album Review

Jean Toussaint's Nazaire: The Street Above the Underground

Read "The Street Above the Underground" reviewed by Ronan Abayawickrema


With The Street Above the Underground London-based saxophonist Jean Toussaint seems to be seeking to emulate T.S.Monk’s recent success in fusing jazz with smooth sounds and pop elements and coming up with something that sounds nothing like Kenny G. Like Monk’s excellent 1999 release Crosstalk, Toussaint’s music has an urbane, polished feel, but has far too much bite to be described as ‘smooth jazz’. Indeed, while Monk updated his sextet’s sound with electronic drums and the occasional synthesizer wash, and ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Casa

Mazzei / Toussaint Records
2022

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Brother Raymond

Lyte Records
2018

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Tate Song

Lyte Records
2014

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The Street Above the...

Alltone Records
2000

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