Saxophone, Flute and Keyboards | b. 1935

François Jeanneau was born in Paris on June 15, 1935, studied flute at the Paris Conservatory under René Leroy, earned a musicology teaching diploma in 1977, and taught himself saxophone. He began performing professionally at the Club Saint-Germain in 1960, worked in Jef Gilson's big band, and recorded with François Tusques, Michel Portal and Bernard Vitet on one of the earliest French free jazz documents in 1965. The band Triangle in the late 1960s and early 1970s developed a jazz-rock fusion direction before Jeanneau moved toward the post-bop and open improvisation approach that characterised his Owl Records solo albums, "Techniques Douces" (1976) and "Ephémère" (1977). His trio with drummer Daniel Humair and bassist Henri Texier, formed in the late 1970s, produced "Humair Jeanneau Texier" (Owl, 1979) and the Africa-themed "Akagera" (JMS, 1980), with further recordings following on Label Bleu. He won the Prix Django Reinhardt from the Académie du Jazz in 1980. In 1986 he was appointed the founding director of the Orchestre National de Jazz, the French state's national jazz orchestra, a position he held through its first major seasons. He composed for film, wrote for saxophone ensemble, and continued performing into the 2000s. Jeanneau, now 90, remains active.