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Henri Texier

Henri Texier is a French jazz double bassist born in Paris.

He is perhaps best known for his 1960s work with Don Cherry and for his 1980s band the Transatlantik Quartet, which featured Joe Lovano, Steve Swallow and Aldo Romano. Biography

At the age of sixteen, fascinated by the double bass, Texier became a self-taught bassist, crediting Wilbur Ware most as an influence. He formed his first group with Georges Locatelli, Alain Tabar-Nouval, Jean-Max Albert and Klaus Hagel, inspired by the music of Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman. In spite of an almost absence of recorded documents this group represents one of the very first expressions of free jazz in France ( 1965 ).

In 1967 he joined a group led by Jef Gilson where he met Bernard Vitet, Jean-Louis Chautemps, François Jeanneau, Stéphane Vilar, Jean-Luc Ponty... At the same period, he was introduced in the Parisian clubs by Daniel Humair, and worked with American musicians like Johnny Griffin, Phil Woods Bill Coleman, Chet Baker, Kenny Drew, Donald Byrd, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, Dexter Gordon, Booker Ervin, Art Taylor.

Throughout the 1970s Texier remained active in Europe on the jazz scene, performing with musicians such as Gordon Beck, John Abercrombie and Didier Lockwood, among others. In 1982 he formed a quartet with Louis Sclavis. With the trio Romano-Sclavis-Texier, he collaborated in three albums having for theme Africa as seen by the photographer Guy Le Querrec: Carnet de routes, Suite africaine and African Flashback. His curiosity for the French Britain music brought him to work with Armorican jazzmen. In 1998, he participated in the album Condaghès (Silex/Auvidis)

He published all his records as leader with the French label: Label Bleu.

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Radio & Podcasts

Henri Texier, Christiane Karam, Ilmiliekki Quartet, Sigurd Hole & More New Releases

Read "Henri Texier, Christiane Karam, Ilmiliekki Quartet, Sigurd Hole & More New Releases" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Another teasure-throve of brand new releases with a special focus, in the second half of the set, on bass players as leaders and composers.Happy listening!PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio “Keep on Keepin' on" Cold as Weiss (Colemine) 0:16 Host talks 4:03 Brandee Younger “Unrest I" Unrest (Impulse!) 5:53 Ilmiliekki Quartet “Three Queens" Ilmiliekki Quartet (We Jazz) 11:00 Host talks 18:55 Christiane Karam “Voyage" Nar (Self-released) ...

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Album Review

Henri Texier: Chance

Read "Chance" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


French double bassist Henri Texier gained prominence back in the early 1960s, when he was working in Paris playing alongside American expatriates such as Bud Powell or Johnny Griffin. Over the years he has played with many international greats and proven a prolific composer as well as an unparalleled foundation on bass. Yet, one could argue that his best work was created only since 2010, in collaboration with his French quintet. Featuring his son Sébastien Texier on saxophones and clarinet, ...

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Album Review

Henri Texier: Sand Woman

Read "Sand Woman" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Henry Texier, uno dei grandi protagonisti della musica europea, presenta qui una raccolta di suoi lavori già editi, ma risalenti perlopiù a molti anni orsono (in alcuni casi, anche quaranta) e qui reinterpretati dall'ultima edizione del suo quintetto che, accanto al figlio Sébastien Texier e al fido chitarrista Manu Codjia, vede in scena due giovani leve del jazz d'oltralpe, il sassofonista tenore e soprano Vincent Le Quang e il batterista Gautier Garrigue. Un po' perché la musica di ...

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Album Review

Henri Texier: Dakota Mab

Read "Dakota Mab" reviewed by Vic Albani


Dakota Mab rappresenta il quinto capitolo della fortunata e intelligente serie “European Jazz Legends" realizzata dall'attenta Intuition in collaborazione con l'accreditata rivista germanica specializzata Jazz Thing. Questa volta i riflettori sono rivolti al lavoro di Henri Texier, vale a dire uno dei più importanti musicisti della nouvelle vague jazzistica francese nata negli anni Settanta e glorificata molte volte dalle incisioni della celebrata Label Bleu. La bella iniziativa, si potrebbe azzardare addirittura “didattica" per via del lavoro collaterale ...

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Album Review

Henri Texier Hope Quartet: Live at L'improviste

Read "Live at L'improviste" reviewed by Stefano Merighi


Registrato dal vivo nel 2012, questo documento conferma l'ottima impressione destata dallo Hope Quartet in alcuni festival europei recenti: palpitante senso della storia, padronanza di un linguaggio legato ai dettami boppistici ma apertissimo alle soluzioni informali, voci strumentali di plastica bellezza, capacità di garantire un suono di gruppo senza rinunciare alla valorizzazione dei singoli. Certo a volte aleggia una certa prolissità, ma è normale in un club, attratti dall'euforia del momento. Henri Texier è un signore ...

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Live Review

Henri Texier's Strada Sextet: Vive la Revolution!

Read "Henri Texier's Strada Sextet: Vive la Revolution!" reviewed by Daniel Spicer


Henri Texier Pavillion Theatre, Brighton, UK 17th March 2005

Tonight the air is full of revolt. Not just because of the fiery music on offer, or the defiant spirit of '68 embodied in the calmly radical physical presence of Henri Texier, the revolutionary elder statesman. No, tonight we almost witness another very English, middle-class, mild-mannered though slightly irritable revolution of a completely different kind.

This is the fourth date of a twelve night tour of ...

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Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Chance

Label Bleu
2020

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Sand Woman

Label Bleu
2018

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Dakota Mab

Intuition
2016

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Complete Communion to...

Dreyfus Records
2011

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