Swiss jazz pianist Colin Vallon crafts atmospheric modern creative jazz that blends post-bop improvisation with an inventive approach to rhythmic interplay. Born in Lausanne during 1980, he pursued private jazz studies before entering the Swiss Jazz School at 18. By the close of the 1990s he was already appearing regularly across Switzerland and other parts of Europe with his own trio. His first solo album, Les Ombres, came out on Unit in 2004, followed by the 2007 sophomore release Ailleurs on Hatology. Growing recognition brought several honors, among them the Fridl-Wald Foundation Prize and third place in the Montreux International Jazz Piano Solo Competition. He received the Nico Kaufmann Foundation Prize in 2008 and secured Pro Helvetia’s high-priority jazz promotion the next year. Outside performance, Vallon instructs at the Bern University of the Arts.
The year 2011 saw the release of his fourth studio album, Rruga, on ECM, recorded with his longstanding trio of bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Samuel Rohrer. Rohrer departed in 2012, succeeded by Julian Sartorius. In 2013 the pianist and trio recorded at Oslo’s Rainbow Studio, resulting in Le Vent, which appeared in March 2014. International touring followed, encompassing festivals throughout Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. Also in 2014, Vallon wrote the score for choreographer Martin Zimmermann’s Hallo and contributed to the documentary film Gossenreiter.
Beginning in 2015, Vallon held a residency at Bee-Flat, Bern’s leading jazz and world-music venue. There he introduced three projects: the psychedelic rock quartet Ocre featuring trumpeter Matthieu Michel, bassist Flo Götte, and drummer Domi Chansorn; the minimal improv quartet Coriolis with vocalist Joy Frempong, electronicist Strotter Inst, and clarinetist Hans Koch; and the composition “Fauna” scored for cellos, harps, saxophones, and drums and drawn from the animal kingdom. Early in 2016 the jazz trio worked at a Lugano studio under producer Manfred Eicher. Months later Vallon earned a nomination for the Swiss Music Prize. ECM issued the trio’s sixth album, Danse, in early 2017. The following year he appeared on saxophonist Nicolas Masson’s ECM debut Travelers. Vallon is a founding member of the saxophonist’s long-running quartet Parallels.
