Robert Mavounzy

Robert Mavounzy (born April 2, 1917 in Colón , Panama ; † March 24, 1974 in Créteil ) was a French jazz musician ( clarinet , saxophone , vocals ) and band leader.

Live and act

The parents of Panama-born Robert Mavounzy came from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and at the time of his birth they were busy building the Panama Canal . At the age of ten he played the drums. After his father's death, he and his mother moved back to Guadeloupe, where he played in the Fairness's Jazz Orchestra of violinist Roger Fanfant as a teenager . In 1933 Mavounzy switched to the saxophone; he then played both alto, tenor and baritone saxophone and clarinet. In 1937 he came to France with the Fanfant Orchestra to play in the 1937 World's Fair in the Guadeloupe pavilion. Before returning, the band recorded six pages for Pathé .

Robert Mavounzy stayed in Paris and quickly came into contact with the local jazz scene, playing with trumpeter Bill Coleman in the Club des Champs Elysées and in Chantilly as well as with the Argentinian guitarist Oscar Alemán . After the occupation of Paris by the German troops, Al Lirvat and Robert Mavounzy from the Antilles were able to continue their musical activities as “musiciens coloniaux”.

In February 1942 Mavounzy played in the orchestra of the Cameroonian drummer Fredy Jumbo, which appeared in the Brasserie La Cigale . In the same club he then played in a formation with four saxophonists, Eugène Delouche and Chico Cristobal (alto), Sylvio Siobud (tenor) and Robert Mavounzy on the baritone saxophone; In November 1942, recordings were made with the Fredy Jumbo Orchestra for Polydor . In July 1943 he took part in the recordings of Django Reinhardt ( "Place de Brouckère" , " Melodie au Crépuscule "). At the end of 1943 he worked at the Festival le Hot Club colonial organized by Hot Club de France - un festival de musique nègre ; in addition to Félix Valvert's orchestra, Mavounzy played with his new orchestra.

After the end of the war he also took part in the jam sessions organized by Charles Delaunay and was the first musician in France to found a bebop formation, Robert Mavounzy and His Be-Boppers . Half a year before Dizzy Gillespie came to Paris to introduce the new music, Mavounzy and his band presented bebop pieces in the Salle Pleyel in February 1948 . During this time, recordings with Harry Cooper, Léo Chauliac , Gus Viseur and Hubert Rostaing were also made . In April 1947 he recorded four pages for Swing under his own name , including the standard "These Foolish Things" . Allan Jeffrey and Jack Carmon (trumpet), André Persiany (piano), Emmanuel Soudieux (bass) and Benny Bennett (drums) played in his bebop minstrels . With his group he performed at well-known venues such as the École Normale, the Théâtre Marigny, Salle Pleyel and went on numerous tours.

In the early 1950s he was still working with Gérard Pochonet , Art Simmons and Buddy Banks . From 1955 to 1960 Mavounzy appeared with Al Lirvat in the revue La canne à Sucre and worked in a revue by Josephine Baker in Olympia ( Paris mes Amours ). After his return to Guadeloupe in 1964, he worked with his own formations, such as the Orchester Traditionnel De La Guadeloupe , which maintained the local music style of the Biguine (including the pianist Alain Jean-Marie and the singer Manuela Pioche). Ér stayed in Guadeloupe until 1970; after his return to Paris he continued his collaboration in the group with Al Lirvat, with whom he performed at the Brasserie La Cigale until his death in 1974 .

Web links / sources

• Orchester de Biguine
• biography
• Biography and photo of Marcel Mavounzy at manoradiorci
• Entry in Discogs