Léo Souris

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Léo Souris (born July 18, 1911 in Marchienne-au-Pont ; March 14, 1990 in Seraing ) was a Belgian jazz and entertainment musician ( piano , arrangement , composition) and band leader .

Live and act

Souris, who came from the Charleroi region in Wallonia , studied piano at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels. Serin's brother was the classical violinist and composer André Souris (1899-1970). In the 1930s, Léo Souris was engaged in jazz music and worked as a piano teacher at the Charleroi Conservatory. During the Second World War he moved to Brussels, where he was employed as a pianist in various entertainment orchestras. In the early 1940s he played in the orchestras of Paul Gason (with whom the first recordings were made), Robert De Kers , Chas Dolne and Fud Candrix , and after the war with Eddie Tower . Under his own name ( Léo Souris' Swingtette ) he made several records for the Rythme label in 1944. In addition, he was active as a composer, arranger and orchestra leader. a. for the Magic label at recording sessions for singer Johnny Steggerda . Souris' compositions included the instrumental numbers Rêves and Tendresse as well as film soundtracks . In 1952 he played in the Grand Orchester Symphonique under the direction of Jack Say ( Rhapsody in Blue ).

In the early 1950s, Léo Souris founded his own big band , with which he performed at the Palace Hotel on Place Rogier in Brussels; most of the arrangements for this dance orchestra were contributed by Jack Say. With the orchestra, Souris presented a number of records, mostly popular dance music , such as the Polydor single "Chiens perdus sans collier". In the 1950s he worked a. a. also with Léon Demeuldre , Herman Sandy , Paul Norman and Bernie Barocq. Under his own name, he played several titles such as Bell Bottom Stomp and Darktown Strutters' Ball for Philips in 1953 . During this time he began to work for French-language programs on the Belgian television station RTB ; he had a regular jazz show on the radio program; 1957 toured Souris with a jazz ensemble of the TV station INR in Europe and in the Belgian colonies in Africa; the band included musicians such as Roger Asselberghs , Jacques Pelzer , Herman Sandy and Benoît Quersin . Souris also led the orchestra for two contributions at the first Eurovision Song Contest , which took place in 1956 in Lugano . The singers were Fud Leclerc ("Messieurs les noyés de la Seine") and Mony Marc . Between 1959 and 1966 he was a regular guest at the Comblain Jazz Festival near Liège . For the first festival he wrote a string arrangement for Chet Baker's performance . In 1960 he performed at the jazz festival with his band consisting of Herman Sandy, Jacques Pelzer, Lennart Jansson , Benoit Quersin and Vivi Mardens . At the same festival he accompanied the singer Helen Merrill ( You Go to My Head ) with his band . He also wrote the Comblain Suite ; the live recording was released on record.

In the 1960s, Souris worked again as a music teacher, now at the Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle (INSAS) in Brussels, from 1963 and 1970 at the summer workshops in Argenteuil . He also wrote arrangements for Etienne Verschuerens BRT Jazz Orchestra and Jack Says RTB TV Orchestra ( Camera d'Argent ); in addition, he played as a pianist with Say at a concert of his orchestra Ancienne Belgique with Annie Cordy , Georges Brassens and Gilbert Bécaud . In the field of jazz he was involved in 14 recording sessions between 1943 and 1960.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Also published under the title The Little Lost Dog (Decca P29898)
  2. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed April 15, 2016)
personal data
SURNAME Souris, Léo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian jazz musician
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Marchienne-au-Pont
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1990
Place of death Seraing