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François Richard

François Richard was born October 9, 1956. His father is a photographer and his mother a musician. François Richard inherited of a sound musical education. At the age of 10, he had the privilege to be tutored by the great master of classical music Jean-Pierre Rampal, and his student from the Conservatoire de Paris, Gail Grimstead. In 1970 he studied flute with professor Jean-Paul Major and piano at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.

In his early twenties, he founded L'Orchestre Sympathique with Jean Vanasse, vibraphonist, and obtained the Premier Prix du Conseil canadien de la musique - First Prize at the Canadian Music Council. Acclaimed by critics, the group made several international tours, appeared in radio programs (SRC) and television, produced one video (Spectel) at Théâtre Saint-Denis and three recordings, two of which were recorded respectively during the Montreal International Jazz Festival and Jazz from Detroit (Montreux-Detroit International Jazz Festival). With L'OS he played flute and piano and had the privilege to share the stage with well known jazz musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins and McCoy Tyner. At that time, he composed some music for films, namely Les Bons Débarras by Francis Mankievicz, film-maker and winner of several prizes.

As an interpreter of world music, Richard can be heard on Playa Gitana CD with guitarist Juan Jose Caranza (Costa Rica). In December 2004, he was the soloist invited for the concert of Brazilian guitarist and composer Selsco Machado at Pierre-Mercure Hall, with whom he had recorded at Radio-Canada. In the 90s, he collaborated with French percussionist and composer, Jean-François Fabiano, of Martinique descent.

Then, he conducted several Jazz, Fusion and Latin ensembles, as a flutist, pianist and composer, with some Montreal musicians among whom were André Leroux, Sylvain Provost, Jean Beaudet and Benoit Charest. He appeared several times in the Montreal International Jazz Festival with his musicians and he also participated in the OFF Festival 2003.

Along his career, he played with internationally known musicians such as Don Alias (percussionist), Gary Bartz (saxophonist), Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius (bassist/Weather Report) and many more. For the past few years, he has been sharing his passion for music by teaching jazz flute at Université du Québec à Montreal (UQAM), Université de Sherbrooke and CEGEP Vanier. As a composer, he has been a recipient of grants from CALQ and CAC.

Besides producing his first album, Coïncidence, in 1998, François Richard Quartet has been invited to participate in the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Beat and "Silence on Jazz" at Radio-Canada.

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

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Effendi Records
2005

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