Pierre Bertrand (saxophonist)

Pierre Bertrand conducts the Nice Jazz Orchestra  (2011)

Pierre Bertrand (* 1972 in Nice ) is a French jazz saxophonist, flautist, composer, arranger and big band leader.

Live and act

Bertrand plays the saxophone (tenor, soprano), flute and piano. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) with first prize in harmony (1996) and counterpoint (1998) and a diploma in jazz arrangement. In 1998 he founded the “ Paris Jazz Big Band ” (PJBB) with trumpeter Nicolas Folmer, of which he is co-director and for which he is also the main composer and arranger. With them he recorded the albums “À suivre” (2000, Cristal Records ), “Méditerranéo” (2002), which offers a musical journey around the Mediterranean, and “Paris 24 H” (2004, Cristal Records). The latter thematizes everyday scenes from big city life in Paris like a motorcyclist in a traffic jam in “Le Cyclopathe”. Members of the PJBB were and are z. B. next to Folmer and Bertrand Stéphane Huchard , Tony Russo (trumpet), Fabien Mary , Denis Leloup . With the PJBB he also accompanied Claude Nougaro (Jazz Fest Vienna 2001), Anne Ducros , Sacha Distel and Diana Krall (in the Olympia 2001) as well as Richard Galliano , Johnny Griffin , André Ceccarelli , Louis Winsberg and Michel Legrand . They played at the César Film Awards in 2005 and at the Marciac Jazz Festival that same year .

He also arranged for singers such as Claude Nougaro ("Embarquement immédiat" 2000 EMI, "La note bleue" Blue Note, 2004), Charles Aznavour , Michel Delpech , Jean-Antoine Hierro ("Jardins Secrets"), Peter Kingsberry and Lio , writes Film music for a series of stories by children for Marie-Christine Barrault and for dance projects such as for the flamenco dancer Sharon Sultan, partly with the PJBB (“Sol y Luna” 2002). For the pianist Jean-Pierre Como he participated as a composer and arranger on his album "L'âme sœur" (2006, Nocturne). In 2001 he wrote a piece for symphony orchestra and saxophone quartet for the city of Nancy .

Bertrand also played with Laurent Cugny , Stan Lafèrriere, “Le Marching Band QSV”, Maria Schneider and Carla Bley , recorded with Éric Le Lann (for the film “Disparu”) and played in Susan Weinert's sextet (“Point Of View”) 1999). Since 1996 he has been a member of the “Hornflakes” wind group.

In 2005 he received the “Prix Frank Tenot” of the “ Les Victoires du Jazz ” award with Folmer and in 2005 the Django d'Or (France) for the PJBB.

He is professor of jazz composition at the CNR in Paris and gives master classes at the CNSM.

Web links

• Biography from Bertrand's official website (French)
• Paris Jazz Bigband (French)
• French biography at Jazz Break ( Memento from November 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )