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Sylvain Luc
Sylvain Luc comes from Bayonne. Surrounded by the inspiring atmosphere of his eagerly music practising brothers, he chooses the guitar as his instrument at the age of 5. He is 9 when he enters the conservatoire and starts recording his first album of Basque folklore "Elgarrekin" together with his brothers. In the Luc family they remember with tenderness the year when he made his stage debut as Joe Dassin with a local group.
His preference for the strings is not limited to the guitar alone; by exploring the classical richness (with Jorge Cardoso), he learns to appreciate the mandolin, the violin and studies the cello for 10 years. At the age of 12 he joins the group of his brother G?rard, accordionist, and makes his second "family record", "Olinakarin". In the early 80's, when he is 15, he discovers jazz and starts his first group "Bulle Quintet". 1982 he gets an award at the Festival international de San Sebastian.
By his 20's, he is the guitarist and bassist most in demand in the region and mixes with most diverse musicians, attends his first class as arranger and obtains his first singing diploma at the Conservatoire of Bayonne.
In 1985, he meets Marie-Ange Damestoy and becomes her arranger-guitarist-bassist. 'Two years of co-operation and success which bring them the nomination for "Revelation 97" (discovery 97) at the Spring of Bourges.
In 1988, he who has been trained by his love of eclecticism, the atypical musician, he who shows his love of Basque folklore and Brazilian music, classical music and "le musette", decides to continue his musical journey in the effervescent life of Paris.
His experience grows - he arranges, composes and plays for the singer Benoit Cazenave, then he plays the bass in the trio of Richard Galliano and Francis Lassus, accompanies the Argentine singer Ja?ro, prepares his proficiency in the classical guitar with Michel Sadonowski at the UMIP, accompanies in the studios Moustaki, Philippe Leotard, Romain Didier, etc..
The Paris jazz world cannot afford to ignore such potential - in 1989, he works especially with Jean Marc Jafet and Andre Ceccarelli and in the following year he replaces Louis Winsbert in the group of the trumpeter Eric Le Iann. It is the time of travelling in its proper sense - concerts, tours, international festival follow.
1991 is the year of meeting Sylvin Marc and recording the album "5/5". He also contributes to the album "Solea" of Jean-Pierre Como and plays the bass in the quartet of Louis Winsberg on his tour through France and Africa.
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Alice Soyer: Persona
by Jim Worsley
WARNING: Listening to this record may cause you to experience emotions, feelings, sentiments, passions, sensations, reactions, spirits, affections, sensibilities, and levels of warmth you have never felt before or that have been locked up inside you for far too long. The irony of jest belies Alice Soyer's genuine voyage of depth and significance into humanity. Joined by soulmates and musicians Pascal Rey, Sylvain Luc, and Philippe Chayeb, Soyer bares her soul in order to enter your heart. Fifteen ...
read moreTrio Sud: Young and Fine
by John Kelman
Trio Sud Young and Fine Dreyfus Jazz2008 It's hard to believe that a guitarist as fine as France's Sylvain Luc has been so overlooked by supposedly comprehensive music sites like All Music Guide--especially with albums like today's Rediscovery, Young and Fine, featuring his Trio Sud group, out in the world. While you can find Luc at AMG, coverage of his small but significant discography is diminutive, and that's a shame, because Luc may well be ...
read moreSylvain Luc / Trio Sud: Young and Fine
by John Kelman
For every artist who's achieved popular acclaim there are ten more equally talented, but for whom greater recognition remains strangely elusive. Sylvain Luc's gradually growing discography demonstrates a guitarist with formidable technique and harmonic sophistication, and yet albums like Joko (Dreyfus Jazz, 2007)--a classic six-string workout if ever there was one--remain beneath the radar for many. Equally curious is the lack of visibility for his nearly decade-old Trio Sud. Many will look to Pat Metheny's undeniably excellent Day Trip and ...
read moreSylvain Luc: Joko
by Stephen Wood
Try not to listen to this album. I bet you won't be able to do it. With rich servings of fusion, swing, harmony, captivating guitar fills, and rhythm Joko, the new album from Sylvain Luc, is a gallimaufry of impressive musical feats.What are those feats? Luc manages to put his finger on the pulse of so many disparate musical themes and ideas and draw them all under a record title that, appropriately, bears his name.The album's ...
read moreSylvain Luc: Joko
by Ernest Barteldes
This Basque guitarist is possibly one of the most versatile jazz musicians to have appeared in recent years; he seems comfortable playing funk-inspired jazz (as he did in a recent appearance with drummer Billy Cobham at the Cutting Room last month) and is able to have an open ear to pop music while also exploring more complex sounds, as can be heard on this disc. He opens with a very loose cover of The Doors' Light My ...
read moreSylvain Luc: Ambre
by James Taylor
Guitarist Sylvain Luc's sophomore solo album, Ambre, is similar to solo instrumental albums from other virtuosic talents--akin to, say, anything by Victor Wooten. You kind of have to be a player and student of the instrument in question, or just really into solo instrumental albums, to fully appreciate the album and the artist's technical proficiency. Maybe appreciate" is too strong a word--one can certainly appreciate the deeply lyrical playing, wellspring of world jazz influences, and flurrying fingerpicking that colors Ambre. ...
read moreSylvain Luc: Ambre
by Jim Santella
The pure sound of an acoustic guitar runs through most forms of music around the world and through time. Civilization's earliest music makers applied the same natural techniques to interpret melodies and to portray desired moods. You can find guitar lovers applying their intimate technique today just about anywhere in the world.
Sylvain Luc employs an array of guitars, sometimes multi-tracked, in order to express his love of jazz. When he interprets All Blues," it's with an appreciation ...
read moreForthcoming Releases from Philip Catherine and Sylvain Luc's Trio Sud on Dreyfus Jazz
Source:
All About Jazz
New York, NY - Dreyfus Records is proud to present new recordings by two of Europe's finest modern jazz guitarists, Philip Catherine (Guitars Two) and Sylvain Luc's Trio Sud (Young and Fine). Though they hail from two different generations, Catherine and Luc share a highly developed versatility, as well as roots in the Gypsy jazz tradition of Django Reinhardt. They both aspire to a boundlessly searching, forward-thinking spirit in music, representing the highest ideals of jazz artistry. In their own ...
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