Franck Tortiller

Franck Tortiller, Innsbruck 2010, performance with Christian Muthspiel

Franck Tortiller (* 1963 in Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune ) is a French jazz vibraphonist, marimba player, composer and big band leader.

Live and act

Tortiller studied at the Conservatory of Dijon and then in Paris at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de dance de Paris , where he studied percussion (and music theory, 1st prize for music analysis of the CNSMDP). In 1989 he won first prize as a soloist at the Concours National de Jazz de La Défense . He accompanied Juliette Gréco and was a member of the Claude Barthélémy quintet . A first album in a collaborative trio with the drummer Pascal Vignon and the bassist Yves Rousseau Les Jours De Fête: Hommage à Jacques Tati was released in 1996 (CC Production). Other trio recordings are “Early Dawn” (2005) with drummer David Duteil and bassist Yves Torchinsky and “Impertinance” with Michel Godard (tuba) and Patrice Héral (percussion). He currently (2013) forms a cooperative trio with the latter. Since 2009 he has led a quartet with Matthieu Michel, Patrice Héral and bassist Antoine Reininger. He also performs solo and in a duo with Héral. In 2016 he published a CD entitled "Rhapsody in Paris", which was created together with the Paris Orchestra Pasdeloups. Tortiller has been playing regularly in Germany since 2015, with saxophonist Alexandra Lehmler , on whose CD release “Sans mots” he can be heard. Héral and the bass player Matthias Debus also take part. Tortiller's current project “Collective Franck Tortiller” is currently on tour with various programs. In 2018 the first record with the big band-like formation was released on Tortiller's label MCO.

Between 1993 and 2000 he was a member of the Vienna Art Orchestra (recordings “American Rhapsody” with Dee Dee Bridgewater and Shirley Horn , “Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus”). He was also a member of the quartet of Simon Spang-Hanssen , the sextet of Jean-Marc Padovani ( Out.Tribute to Eric Dolphy ) and in various formations of Michel Godard ( Cousins ​​Germains , Archangelica , Ivresses ) and Christian Muthspiel .

From 2005 to 2008 he was director of the Orchester National de Jazz (albums “Electrique”, the Led Zeppelin tribute “Close to Heaven”). In 2007 he received the Django d'Or (France) for best live music for his program "Sentimental ¾", which was initially performed with this orchestra .

As a composer he wrote a. a. Commissioned compositions for the Orchester de Massy and Radio France , but also for his own large formation.

Tortiller is the founder of the “Jazz à Couches” festival.

Discographic notes

• Tortiller / Godard / Héral impertinAnce , 2006
• Franck Tortiller Orchester Sentimental ¾ (with Jean Gobinet, Herbert Joos , Jean-Louis Pommier , Michel Marre , Bruno Wilhelm, Éric Séva , Vincent Limouzin, Eric Bijon, Yves Torchinsky , Patrice Héral), 2008
• Franck Tortiller Orchester Janis the Pearl (with Jacques Mahieux , Matthieu Michel, Jean Gobinet, Anthony Caillet, Jean-Louis Pommier, Matthieu Vial-Collet, Yves Torchinsky, Patrice Héral), 2012

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Orchester Des Jeunes Jazzmen De Bourgogne, 16 March 2011
2. ↑ Tortiller est le huitième directeur musical de l'Orchestre National de Jazz (2005-2008) ( Memento of the original of December 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (French) 
3. ↑ The album was not released under the name of the Orchester National de Jazz , but despite the same line-up as “Franck Tortiller L'Orchestre”.
4. ↑ Alla Breve Franck Tortiller, Cinq cépages, September 19, 2011 ( Memento of the original of February 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.