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Julien Desprez

Julien Desprez is a musicianand performer based in Paris. Jazz and rock were his early musical loves but they evolved rapidly to free forms where body and space find their places through sound.

As his practice progressed, his conception and approach to his instrument as well, and music and space changed. He is now considering the guitar more likea battery, an organ, a modifiable instrument deployable at will.

Through a mix of actions on the instrument and a play of foot on effect pedals, taking inspiration from the technique of Tap Dance, it completely opened the possibilities, sound and physical environment of the instrument. This results in a practice where body is engaged to its fullest.Now evolving between sound art, performance and contemporary improvisational music, his work today is centered around all the questions that exist within a stage space, through body, space, sight and light, but where the sound remains the central pillar.Julien is also a co-founder of the Collectif Coax, a music cooperative based in Paris and created in 2008, which was recently labeled "Compagnie Nationale" by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.

He also played with Charlie Haden, Mats Gustafson, Jeanne Added, Edward Perraud, Thomas Depourquery, François Jeanneau, Louis Sclavis, Stephane Payen, Guillaume Orti, Benoit Delbecq, Tortoise, Han Bennink, Hubert Dupont, Rob Mazurek, Jeff Parker, Frank Vaillant, Gilles Coronado, Beniat Achary, Noël Ackchoté, David Grubbs, Doug Wamble, Marc Ducret, Sylvain Darrifourcq, Eve Risser, Mederic Collignon, Magic Malik, Emmanuel Bex et Hasse Poulsen.

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In Pictures

Indica - Surreal Sound Festival, Part 1

Read "Indica - Surreal Sound Festival, Part 1" reviewed by Luciano Rossetti


A collection of photos from the first weekend of Indic--Surreal Sound Festival in Brescia, Saturday 11, 2023 featuring Julien Desprez, Bruno Spoerri and Gabriel Schiltknecht Duo, Lucy Railton and Maurizio Rinaldi Duo. ...

Live Review

Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2021 - Seconda parte

Read "Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2021 - Seconda parte" reviewed by Libero Farnè


Bolzano e dintorni Varie sedi 1—4/07/2021 [Per la recensione della prima parte del festival clicca qui] Un assaggio del Südtirol Jazzfestival Alto Adige 2021, avendo partecipato ai suoi giorni conclusivi, ha confermato un'impostazione che ha previlegiato gruppi provenienti da ogni angolo d'Europa, ma comunque giovani, spesso con il loro CD d'esordio all'attivo e disponibili a progetti e collaborazioni inedite. È stata quindi un'occasione per ascoltare nomi, proposte e tendenze che difficilmente si possono incontrare altrove. ...

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Festivals Talking

Moers Festival Interviews: Julien Desprez

Read "Moers Festival Interviews: Julien Desprez" reviewed by Martin Longley


It might seem that the Parisian guitarist Julien Desprez has made a recent storming of the jazz and improvisation scenes. He did make lightning moves and sounds at Jazzfest Berlin and the Moers Festival in 2018 and '19, but Desprez was active nearly a decade ago—though enjoying a much lower profile. He even toured the UK in early 2015 as one third of In Bed With alongside drummer Sylvain Darrifourcq and keyboardist Kit Downes. He was also a member of ...

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Album Review

Nate Wooley: Seven Storey Mountain VI

Read "Seven Storey Mountain VI" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


Since 2007 trumpeter Nate Wooley has been producing compositions in a song cycle collectively called “Seven Storey Mountain." The first one was performed by a trio and each succeeding version has included a greater number of musicians. The newest one, the sixth of an eventual seven iterations, is performed here by fourteen players including three vocalists. It is a compelling and heart-wrenching musical epic. one uninterrupted 45-minute piece which combines pre-recorded tapes and live performance. Part of the ...

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Album Review

Nate Wooley: Seven Storey Mountain VI

Read "Seven Storey Mountain VI" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


From 2010 onwards, composer-trumpeter Nate Wooley has explored creative music as a solo artist and through a spectrum of collaborators such as Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Mary Halvorson, Ken Vandermark, and Matthew Shipp. These projects have been offset by Wooley's Seven Storey Mountain succession of releases; Seven Storey Mountain VI is a masterwork of expressionist passion and discord, taking the series to a new level. The sound that Wooley debuted in 2009 was compact in scale, with drummer Paul ...

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Album Review

Nate Wooley: Seven Storey Mountain VI

Read "Seven Storey Mountain VI" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Long considered one of the most innovative and idiosyncratic trumpeters in the improvised music community, Nate Wooley has for many years astonished listeners with his formidable technique and broad-minded vision. Nowhere is this more evident than in his Seven Storey Mountain series, a sequence of recordings going back to 2007 that is now in its sixth iteration. With an ever-expanding cast of associates who share Wooley's iconoclasm, this is improvised music of a distinctive and ambitious character, determined to bridge ...

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