Duo : Louis Sclavis / François Raulin

The two musicians met in 1980 with ARFI. In 1985, Louis Sclavis formed his first quartet with François Raulin (piano, synthesizer), Bruno Chevillon (double bass) and Christian Ville (drums). Their success led them to tour and play at numerous international festivals (including the CDs “Chine” and “Rouge” released by ECM).

Louis Sclavis went on to form a new sextet with Bruno Chevillon, Francis Lassus, Dominique Pifarély, Yves Robert and François Raulin, a line-up that left its mark on French jazz in the 80’s and 90’s (CD “Duke on the air”, and CD “Les Violences de Rameau” released by ECM). Creative, playful jazz, of which Louis Sclavis is one of Europe’s most renowned exponents.

There’s no doubt that the many years they’ve spent playing together have created an intimate musical connivance between these two artists.

A complicity in play and improvisation to be (re)discovered.

On the evening of Saturday December 2, the Usine’s main auditorium was packed to the rafters for the Louis Sclavis/François Raulin concert, before an audience of connoisseurs who were clearly very receptive to this masterful rendition. With their musical complicity enriched by thirty years of collaboration and musical experience, these two virtuosos splashed the evening with their combined talents, playing jazz off the beaten track on their own creations and under almost constant improvisation. This connivance between pianist and clarinettist, honed on all the great international stages, gave this superb evening a quality and tone of the highest order. The audience’s welcome, curtain calls and standing ovations underlined the quality of this fine evening.

“This is the first time we’ve been down to the Usine, despite the snow. We’ve been won over!” say Marielle and Pierre, who’ve come down from Aurillac… It was a superb evening. We’ll be back for sure.”