Emile Parisien

Émile Parisien ranks among Europe’s foremost soprano saxophonists, celebrated for his vivid blend of modern creative jazz and post-bop. Equally rooted in jazz and classical traditions, he merges the legacies of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, and Wynton Marsalis with the compositional approaches of Hector Berlioz and Arnold Schoenberg. Having settled in Paris in the early 2000s, he first drew notice through the albums Au Revoir Porc-Épic in 2006, Original Pimpant in 2009, and Chien Guêpe in 2012. Those recordings earned him the 2012 Prix Django Reinhardt, the 2014 Victoires du Jazz Artist of the Year title, and a 2017 Echo Jazz award. On the ACT imprint he has worked in contrasting formats, from duo projects with accordionist Vincent Peirani—beginning with 2014’s Belle Époque—to the quintet date Sfumato alongside pianist Joachim Kühn in 2016 and the 2022 sextet recording Louise, which features trumpeter Theo Croker. In 2023 he joined forces with kora player Ballaké Sissoko for the quartet album Les Égarés.

Born in Cahors, Lot, France, in 1982, Parisien took up the saxophone early and, by age eleven, was attending Marciac’s College de Jazz under the guidance of Guy Lafitte, Pierre Boussaguet, and Christian Salut. He later entered the Conservatoire de Toulouse to study classical and contemporary music. Festival appearances at Jazz in Marciac soon followed, placing him onstage with Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Hutcherson, and Christian McBride, among others.

In 2000 he moved permanently to Paris and formed the Éphémère Quartet, which issued his debut, Famimra. Three consecutive years as Talent Jazz of the Fonds d’Action SACEM led to further recordings on the Laborie label, including the same early-2000s trio of albums. Signing with ACT, he issued the quartet album Spezial Snack in 2014, the same year he reunited with Peirani for Belle Époque. Sfumato, another quintet session with Kühn, appeared in 2016. The following year Parisien received the International Instrumentalist prize at the Echo Jazz awards; Double Screening, a second quartet outing, followed in 2019. A further duo album with Peirani, Abrazo, surfaced in 2020. Louise, released in 2022, spotlighted his sextet of pianist Roberto Negro, guitarist Manu Codjia, trumpeter Theo Croker, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Nasheet Waits. Later that year Parisien and Peirani joined Ballaké Sissoko and cellist Vincent Segal—two longstanding duos merged—for Les Égarés, issued in March 2023. Months afterward he returned with Les Métanuits, a set of duets once again pairing him with Roberto Negro.