Erik Truffaz

Erik Truffaz (born 3 April 1960 in Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland) is a French-Swiss jazz trumpeter, infusing elements of hip hop, rock and roll and dance music into his compositions.

Erik Truffaz
Background information
Birth name	Erik Truffaz
Born	(1960-04-03) 3 April 1960 (age 65) Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland
Origin	France, Switzerland
Genres	Jazz fusion Acid jazz Nu-jazz Post bop
Occupation(s)	Musician, band leader, composer
Instrument	Trumpet
Years active	1990s–present
Labels	Blue Note Records (current) EMI

Early life

Erik Truffaz grew up in France, in the Pays de Gex.^[1] He was introduced to music by his father, a saxophone player,^[2] played in his father's bands growing up,^[3] became a member of diverse local bands and later joined the orchestra of Collège Voltaire [fr] in Geneva.^[1] His father then got him admitted to the Chambéry conservatory [fr] where he discovered the world of jazz and blues and was inspired to study jazz after hearing Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue at 16 years old.^[4][2] He continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Genève, where he deepened his classical training and took part in jazz workshops, notably those of the Association for the Encouragement of Improvised Music [fr].^[5]

This dual training in classical and jazz music played a key role in shaping his musical style, which blends elements from various genres such as acoustic music, jazz, rock, electro, drum and bass and many more.

Career

In 1996, Truffaz signed with the French EMI label.^[1] Truffaz's second album on Blue Note, The Dawn, produced together with Patrick Muller, Marcello Giuliani and Mark Erbetta. Since then they have produced many Blue Note albums together such as Bending New Corners, which became a Silver Album in France. The 2007 release Arkhangelsk is a mixture of pop songs, French chanson, and jazz-groove.

Discography

• Nina Valéria (1994)
• Out of a Dream (1997)
• The Dawn (1998)
• Bending New Corners (1999)
• The Mask (2000)
• Mantis (2001)
• ReVisité (2001)
• Magrouni (2002)
• Tales Of The Lighthouse (2002)
• The Walk of the Giant Turtle (2003)
• Saloua (2005)
• Face-à-face (2CD Live + DVD) (2006)
• Arkhangelsk (2007)
• Benares (2008)
• Mexico (2008)
• Paris (2008)
• In between (2010)
• El tiempo de la Revolución (2012)
• Being Human Being (with Murcof) (2014)
• Doni Doni (2016)
• Lune Rouge (2019)^[6]
• Rollin' (Blue Note Records, 2023)