Biography
Born in Paris in 1956, Barthélémy grew up in the suburbs absorbing jazz rock, folk punk and atonal funk while cultivating a persistent interest in avant-garde currents across many idioms. Although self-taught, he began playing guitar in 1970 yet spent several years torn between music and mathematics until late 1978, when a position with Michel Portal resolved the question.
Thereafter he appeared in numerous groups, frequently as founder and central figure, within the jazz-rock fusion idiom then current; the ensembles included d’Œdipe, Frankfurt’s Ensemble Moderne, Orchestre National Des Pays De Loire, Ars Nova and Orchestre De Lille. In 1987 he drew on a wide range of European jazz musicians to establish the Orchestre National De Jazz, which he recorded with from 1989 to 1991.
His activities also encompassed accompaniment for Malian singer Nahawa Dumbia, incidental scores for Shakespeare productions directed by Gilles Bouillon, collaborations in the plastic arts with Peter Sinclair and Kiki Picasso, and ballet commissions. Over two decades he regularly performed with the trio completed by bassist Jean-Luc Ponthieux and drummer Manuel Denizet; other frequent partners were saxophonist Daunik Lazro, bassist Claude Tchamitchian and drummer Christophe Marguet.
Early in the 2000s he prepared a new recording with drummer Jacques Mahieux, bassist Nicolas Mahieux, accordionist Didier Ithursarry and vibraphonist Frank Tortiller. The album Sereine additionally featured guests Elise Caron on voice, Médéric Collignon on cornet and voice, saxophonist Philippe Lemoine, trombonist Jean-Louis Pommier and keyboardist Bojan Z. In November 2002 Barthélémy, who also performs on oud and bouzouki, assembled his second Orchestre National De Jazz and composed an extensive body of new music for the occasion.
A remarkably agile guitarist sometimes described as the world’s fastest, he is noted for inserting musical and stylistic quotations drawn from such disparate figures as Django Reinhardt, Steely Dan, Keith Richards, John Coltrane, Pierre Boulez, François Couperin and Anton Webern.
Thereafter he appeared in numerous groups, frequently as founder and central figure, within the jazz-rock fusion idiom then current; the ensembles included d’Œdipe, Frankfurt’s Ensemble Moderne, Orchestre National Des Pays De Loire, Ars Nova and Orchestre De Lille. In 1987 he drew on a wide range of European jazz musicians to establish the Orchestre National De Jazz, which he recorded with from 1989 to 1991.
His activities also encompassed accompaniment for Malian singer Nahawa Dumbia, incidental scores for Shakespeare productions directed by Gilles Bouillon, collaborations in the plastic arts with Peter Sinclair and Kiki Picasso, and ballet commissions. Over two decades he regularly performed with the trio completed by bassist Jean-Luc Ponthieux and drummer Manuel Denizet; other frequent partners were saxophonist Daunik Lazro, bassist Claude Tchamitchian and drummer Christophe Marguet.
Early in the 2000s he prepared a new recording with drummer Jacques Mahieux, bassist Nicolas Mahieux, accordionist Didier Ithursarry and vibraphonist Frank Tortiller. The album Sereine additionally featured guests Elise Caron on voice, Médéric Collignon on cornet and voice, saxophonist Philippe Lemoine, trombonist Jean-Louis Pommier and keyboardist Bojan Z. In November 2002 Barthélémy, who also performs on oud and bouzouki, assembled his second Orchestre National De Jazz and composed an extensive body of new music for the occasion.
A remarkably agile guitarist sometimes described as the world’s fastest, he is noted for inserting musical and stylistic quotations drawn from such disparate figures as Django Reinhardt, Steely Dan, Keith Richards, John Coltrane, Pierre Boulez, François Couperin and Anton Webern.
Albums