Louis Sclavis

Louis Sclavis (born 2 February 1953)^[1] is a French jazz musician. He performs on clarinet, bass clarinet, and soprano saxophone in a variety of contexts, including avant-garde jazz, free jazz, free improvisation and contemporary classical.

Louis Sclavis
Louis Sclavis in 2007
Background information
Born	(1953-02-02) 2 February 1953 (age 72) Lyon, France
Genres	Jazz, Avant-garde jazz, free jazz, free improvisation, contemporary classical
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, record producer
Instrument(s)	Clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone
Years active	1975–present
Labels	ECM, Label Bleu

Life and career

He was born in Lyon, France.^[1] Sclavis played with the Henri Texier Quartet.^[2]

He has won numerous awards, including: the PRIX DJANGO REINHARDT “best French jazz musician” (1988); First Prize in the Barcelona Biennale (1989); the British Jazz award at the Midem for “Best Foreign Artist” (1990/91); the DJANGO D’OR “Best French jazz record of the year” (1993); and the GRAND PRIX SACEM 2009.^[3][4]

He was one of the first to combine jazz with French folk music, working most prominently with the hurdy-gurdy player Valentin Clastrier.^[5]

Discography

• Ad Augusta Per Argustia (Nato, 1981)
• Clarinettes (Label Bleu, 1985)
• Chine (Ida, 1987)
• Chamber Music (Ida, 1989)
• Ellington on the Air (Ida, 1991)
• Rouge (ECM, 1991)
• Trio de Clarinettes: Live (FMP, 1991)
• Acoustic Quartet (ECM, 1994)
• Carnet de Routes (Label Bleu, 1995)
• Ceux qui veillent la nuit (JMS, 1996)
• Danses et Autres Scenes (JMS, 1998)
• Les Violences de Rameau (ECM, 1996)
• Suite Africaine (Label Bleu, 1999)
• L'Affrontement des Prétendants (ECM, 1999)
• Dans la Nuit (ECM, 2000)
• Napoli's Walls (ECM, 2002)
• Bow River Falls (Koch, 2004)
• Roman, (2004);^[6]
• African Flashback (Label Bleu, 2005)
• L'Imparfait des Langues (ECM, 2007)
• Lost on the Way (ECM, 2009)
• Eldorado Trio (Clean Feed, 2010)
• Sources (ECM, 2012)
• Silk and Salt Melodies (ECM, 2014)
• Characters On A Wall (ECM, 2019)
• Les Cadances Du Monde (JMS-Cream, 2022)

Filmography

• 1999: It All Starts Today (Ça commence aujourd'hui) by Bertrand Tavernier (Sony Music France)
• 2002: Un moment de bonheur by Antoine Santana
• 2002: Dans la nuit by Charles Vanel (ECM)
• 2002: Vivre me tue by Jean-Pierre Sinapi
• 2007: After Him (Après lui) by Gaël Morel
• 2009: Plus tard tu comprendras by Amos Gitaï
• 2009: Portraits-autoportraits by Gilles Porte
• 2011: Roses à crédit by Amos Gitaï