Apart from one appearance at the London Jazz Festival, on the Barbican Freestage last year, this will be only this trio’s second UK visit.

In Europe however, Laurent has been a very busy chap, playing nearly many major jazz and music festivals; from the really big ones such as the Dutch North Sea JF: Marciac and Paris in France to Tokyo and beyond. His high energy trio employs Laurent on both piano and keyboards that use many sounds from Hammond Organ to Fender Rhodes, whilst reliant on the traditional piano for standards and ballads.

Laurent Coulondre belongs to a young generation of musicians who with talent and freedom have contributed to the evolution of Jazz in modern day France. Possessing a matchless instinct for rhythm and harmony, he expresses himself at the piano and at the organ with a unique musicality that is rare for a musician of his age, and a sensitivity that leaves you breathless.

Laurent’s trio stands out with his new concept of what he describes as his "irreversible trio", creating a musical identity that hasn’t been seen before. As he switches in performance between the classic piano trio to an organ/bass and drums trio Laurent offers an astonishing and explosive musicality, always looking for a different creative process.

He's also performed with his trio alongside, or opened for a diverse bunch from Sting, Marcus Miller, Michel Legrand, Al Jarreau, Avishaï Cohen and Dee Dee Bridgewater, to fellow Frenchmen Didier Lockwood, Jacky Terrasson, Biréli Lagrène, Michel Portal and Manu Dibango.

This gig has been arranged with French sax player Julien Alenda, who currently lives in Bristol and is a friend of Laurent. It may well be that Julien will sit-in as a guest on some part of the evening.

laurent.coulondre.fr

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