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Airelle Besson

Airelle Besson has enjoyed exceptional success in recent years: she has twice been named Best French Musician of the Year by the French Django Reinhardt Award Academy and as Jazz Revelation of the Year at the French Award ceremony “Les Victoires du Jazz”. At the 2015 festival ‘Jazz sous les Pommiers’ in Coutances, where she was artist in residence for 3 years, Airelle caught the public’s attention with her brand new project; a quartet with Isabel Sörling on vocals, Benjamin Moussay on piano, fender Rhodes & bass synth and Fabrice Moreau on drums. Their new album “Radio One” was released in May 2016 on label Naïve, concerts in France and worldwide followed the release.

Airelle has an impressive track-record. She trained with Wynton Marsalis, Pierre Gillet and Kato Havas (Yehudi Menuhin‘s disciple) in Oxford, graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.

This multi-talented trumpet player lights up the European jazz scene with her projects, (the Airelle Besson Quartet and duo with Nelson Veras), as a much sought-after sidewoman (with François Jeanneau, Riccardo Del Fra, Didier Levallet, Laurent Cugny,…) and as a composer/arranger (Metronomy, Orchestre National de Lyon). She has performed with Charlie Haden and Carla Bley, Michel Portal, Youn Sun Nah, Manu Katché, Philip Catherine, Billy Hart, Rhoda Scott, Daniel Humair, Baptiste Trotignon, Henri Texier, Tom Harrell, Avishai Cohen, Greg Hutchinson, José James

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Radio & Podcasts

The French Scene - Part 2

Read "The French Scene - Part 2" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Here's more jazz from the scene by the Seine, featuring the lyricism of Emile Parisien, Vincent Courtois, the rhythmic hypnosis of The Recyclers and Benoît Delbecq, the sketches of Miles by Airelle Besson and Médéric Collignon, the urban vibes of Antoine Berjeaut and Guillaume Perret and much more. Happy listening! PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Edward Perraud “Élévation" Espaces (Label Bleu) 0:16 Host talks 3:33 Barthelemy -Lazro -Marguet -Tchamitchian ...

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Airelle Besson e il Questionario di Proust

Read "Airelle Besson e il Questionario di Proust" reviewed by Paolo Peviani


All About Jazz: Il tratto principale della mia musica. Airelle Besson: La melodia. AAJ: La qualità che desidero nei musicisti che suonano con me. A.B. : L'impegno, l'ascolto, l'entusiasmo. AAJ: Come musicista, il mio principale difetto. A.B.: L'interpretazione costante nella vita di tutti i giorni. AAJ: La mia più grande paura quando suono. A.B.: Nessuna vera paura. AAJ: Sogno di ...

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Album Review

Airelle Besson and Nelson Veras: Prelude

Read "Prelude" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


French trumpeter and composer Airelle Besson and Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras have stuck up quite the duet relationship that manifests itself properly on the present Preludes. The trumpet/guitar format is not your typical duo, but it works extremely well in the hands of these two like-minded musicians. The two share a warm aural intimacy even more profound than various piano-based duets. Besson is a lyrical trumpeter who favors long melodic lines not afraid to tell a story ...

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