Home » Jazz Musicians » Erik Truffaz

Erik Truffaz

In the next step of his evolution as a pioneering jazz figure, French trumpeter Erik Truffaz continues his exploration of modern dance rhythms informed by drum ‘n’ bass and hip hop as well as gripping rock ‘n’ roll with his quartet on The Walk of the Giant Turtle. This CD is Truffaz’s fourth U.S. release, following up last year’s remarkable Mantis, and featuring a video on the making of the album. Joining Truffaz on the new disc are his long-time quartet, Patrick Muller on piano and electronic keyboards, Marcello Giuliani on bass and Marc Erbetta on drums.

In a European interview Truffaz said that The Walk of the Giant Turtle (recorded in Lausanne in January 2003 and mixed in Paris) was based on ensemble improvisation. He remarked that the music “is not too cerebral.” He explained that the rock-fueled passion and power on three tracks (the heavy rocking, abrasive “King B,” the wah-wah-driven “Next Door” and the crunching/ cooking “Seven Skies”) came from two sources. First, Giuliani is the guitarist in a rock group named Aquarius. Secondly, Truffaz said that he came of age as a rock fan: “I listened to Led Zeppelin much more than Miles Davis [when I was younger].” The tunes teem with pockets of tension/release, rich sound textures, distortion and even Hendrixian guitar-like exchanges. Throughout, Truffaz soars above the combustible mix.

The Walk of the Giant Turtle features Truffaz and company delivering fluid groove tunes like the lead-off “Scody (Part 1)” and “Scody (Part 2).” Also in the mix are lyrical beauties such as the slow-and-stretched “Turiddu” with seductive bass line and Rhodes atmosphere, the coolly alluring “Belle De Nuit,” and the captivating title tune that is at once delicate and spiritual with a gently sketched trumpet melody and Ravel-like piano counterpoint.

Born in 1960, Truffaz was inspired to play music by his saxophonist father who led a dance band. He took up the trumpet as a youngster and joined his father on the bandstand. As his technique grew, Truffaz linked up with other bands before being introduced to Miles Davis’ classic Kind of Blue album. This led him to study music at the Geneva Conservatoire in Switzerland where he learned to perform classical works by the likes of Mozart and Verdi. In addition to playing in the Orchestre de Suisse Romande, Truffaz played in cover bands while also writing his own jazz-infused music. In 1990 he formed a jazz band called Orange and the following year won France’s prestigious jazz award, the Prix Special. As a leader of his self-named group, Truffaz recorded his first album Nina Valeria and appeared on stages throughout Europe, including the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Read more

Tags

2
Radio & Podcasts

Miles Davis, Erik Truffaz, John McLaughlin and more

Read "Miles Davis, Erik Truffaz, John McLaughlin and more" reviewed by Len Davis


Miles Davis from the 1987 Live Under The Sky sessions, French trumpeter Erik Truffaz, saxophonist Gary Thomas and John McLaughlin. Playlist Miles Davis “The Senate-Me and U" from Live Under The Sky 1987 (Equinox Jazz) 00:00 Erik Truffaz “Tantrik" from Saloua (Capitol) 09:04 Gary Thomas “Out of Harms Way" from By Any Means Neccessary (Polydor) 18:22 John McLaughlin “Mother Tongues" from The Heart of Things-Live In Paris (Verve) 27:35 Third Rail “That Stern Look" from Ignition Live Across ...

32
Live Review

Jazz in Church Festival 2015

Read "Jazz in Church Festival 2015" reviewed by Adriana Carcu


Jazz in Church Festival Bucharest, Romania Lutheran Church April 16-19, 2015 The Jazz in Church Festival reaffirmed its call of unconventionality by bringing together artists of most diversified styles and orientations. A subtly assorted lineup consolidated the nascent tradition of open dialog and transgender interplay set forth three years ago. For four days in April the cupola of the Lutheran Church in Bucharest echoed with the unobstructed creativity of the performers and reverberated with ...

5
Album Review

Erik Truffaz Quartet: El Tiempo De La Revolución

Read "El Tiempo De La Revolución" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Across a twenty-year recording career, Swiss-born trumpeter Erik Truffaz has explored jazz, rock, electronica, dance and ambient musics. El Tiempo De La Revolución, his tenth album for Blue Note France, mixes jazz, '80s soul and a touch of Nordic cool to create some intriguing soundscapes and moods.El Tiempo De La Revolución is credited to the Erik Truffaz Quartet, which Truffaz formed in 1997. Alongside original members Marcello Giuliani on bass and Marc Erbetta on drums, Truffaz is joined ...

284
Album Review

Erik Truffaz: Rendez-Vous

Read "Rendez-Vous" reviewed by Chris May


At first sight, everything is wrong about this 3CD set, recorded by the fusion and ambient trumpeter Erik Truffaz in Paris, Benares and Mexico--via a heap of international file-sharing--with help from the locals. “Wrong" like that table in the New York nightclub in 1971's The French Connection. Except that the bagmen portrayed in the movie were somehow, indefinably but unmistakably, bad news. There's nothing indefinably troubling about Rendez-Vous, however; it's there clear as a pikestaff and twice as nasty. It ...

324
Album Review

Erik Truffaz: Arkhangelsk

Read "Arkhangelsk" reviewed by John Kelman


While Out of a Dream (Blue Note, 1997), introduced Erik Truffaz's now decade-old group featuring keyboardist Patrick Muller, bassist Marcello Giuliani and drummer Marc Erbetta, it was a decidedly straight-ahead post-bop affair. Since then, with that quartet and his guitar-centric Ladyland group, the Swiss-born trumpeter has moved increasingly further away from the mainstream, exploring the textures and beats of Nu Jazz, the influence of Middle Eastern, African music, and even a hint of fusion and head-banging rock.

Truffaz has used ...

596
Interview

Erik Truffaz: Another Day Another Life

Read "Erik Truffaz: Another Day Another Life" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Most musicians would be content with one successful band, but Swiss trumpeter Erik Truffaz is not the typical musician. Not content with leading two internationally acclaimed bands, he also finds time to collaborate with the likes of saxophonistsMichael Brecker and Joe Lovano, tablaist/producer Talvin Singh and trumpeter Jon Hassell. And if he's not playing a live soundtrack to a 1930s silent Japanese movie he can be found exploring the possibilities of electro-acoustic music with octogenarian Frenchman Pierre Henry or with ...

424
Album Review

Erik Truffaz: Face-a-Face

Read "Face-a-Face" reviewed by John Kelman


French trumpeter Erik Truffaz, one of the hardest working artists in jazz, seems to be endlessly on tour with his two groups. The only place his stylistically hybridized music has yet to make significant inroads is the US--which is a shame because Truffaz is a fine player from the electric Miles camp and a largely innovative conceptualist as well. Face-à-Face, his first live release, includes one disc with his piano-based quartet and the other with his guitar-centric Ladyland. It demonstrates ...

Read more articles
2

Event

Erik Truffaz & Amina Agossi Jazz Up The Lao People's Democratic Republic

Erik Truffaz  & Amina Agossi Jazz Up The Lao People's Democratic Republic

Source: All About Jazz

Jazz gigs are nothing like buses in Lao, as two buses never come along at the same time in the capital city, Vientiane. Nevertheless, jazz fans can look forward to the dizzying prospect of two jazz gigs on consecutive nights in the Lao National Culture Hall on the 26th and 27th of November. Swiss-French trumpeter Erik Truffaz on Wednesday 26th and French-Beninoise singer Mina Agossi on Thursday 27th will give audiences two very different takes on modern jazz. Truffaz has ...

129

Performance / Tour

Erik Truffaz: A Tasty Melange of East and West, Shot Through a Jazz Blender

Erik Truffaz: A Tasty Melange of East and West, Shot Through a Jazz Blender

Source: All About Jazz

Erik Truffaz makes a triumphal return to MusicHall with Malcolm Braff and their 'Indian Project' BEIRUT: It was standing-room only at Wadi Abu Jmeel's best-loved concert venue on Tuesday evening as Erik Truffaz made a triumphant return to MusicHall. The world-renowned trumpet player came bearing gifts from the east, in the form of his “Indian Project." The brainchild of Truffaz and his pianist collaborator Malcolm Braff, the show saw their considerable talents augmented by those of Indrani Mukherjee, a vocalist ...

ctraltu
trumpet

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

El Tiempo De La...

Blue Note Records
2013

buy

Triple Best Of

Brassland
2011

buy

In Between

Brassland
2010

buy

Let Me Go !

Brassland
2010

buy

Rendez-Vous

Blue Note Records
2010

buy

Instanbul Sessions

BCS Records
2010

buy

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.