Biography
Swiss-born trumpeter and composer Erik Truffaz crafts a nu-jazz synthesis that merges post-bop, modal forms, fusion, electronica, hip-hop, rock, pop, and worldwide folk sources. The 1999 album Bending New Corners displayed the strong imprint of Miles Davis’ second quintet together with his electric sessions, while 2001’s Revisité and Mantis incorporated drum’n’bass, grime, acid house, and hip-hop pulses inside post-bop frameworks. Walk of the Giant Turtle from 2003 integrated rock-oriented funky fusion into altered dancefloor pieces, and Arkhangelsk in 2007 echoed Jon Hassell’s Fourth World aesthetic alongside pop elements, featuring guest Ed Harcourt. In Between from 2010 included vocalist Sophie Hunger on multiple tracks; El Tiempo de La Revolución in 2012 blended electric jazz, 1980s soul, and Nordic restraint; Doni Doni from 2016 arose from work with Malian singer Rokia Traore; and Lune Rouge in 2019 examined astronomy via dense 21st-century jazz. Rollin’ and Clap! from 2023 presented Truffaz’s readings of 20th-century film themes.
Born in Switzerland and raised in France, Truffaz encountered music early through his father, a saxophone player in a dance band. He took up the trumpet during elementary school, joined his father’s group at age ten, and soon appeared with other local ensembles until, at sixteen, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue reached him. That recording prompted deeper study, leading him to pursue music theory, composition, and history at the Conservatoire. His performing range grew to encompass Mozart and Verdi, and he served as a member of L’Orchestre de Suisse.
During university he concentrated on jazz composition and performance, forming Orange, the initial ensemble devoted to his own pieces; drummer Marc Erbetta, a participant from the start, remained a longtime associate. Truffaz immersed himself in Davis’ catalog and example, finding particular fixation in the second quintet’s recordings and the electric works beginning with In a Silent Way. He also absorbed folk traditions from Africa, South America, Mexico, and the Middle and Far East while refining his hard-bop and modal technique.
Following Orange’s dissolution, Truffaz advanced his fusion explorations yet stayed anchored in hard and post-bop. In 1991 the Jury du Concours National de la Defense granted him the Prix Special, France’s distinguished jazz honor, and he made his first appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival that same year. Within three years he led a quintet and issued his debut album, Nina Valeria, on Switzerland’s Elephant label, an effort shaped by Davis’ second quintet and marked by the trumpeter’s emulation of Davis’ tone, muted and open.
In 1994 the quintet undertook a two-year tour of Europe, Russia, and Brazil supported by a Pro Helvetia Foundation grant. Late in 1996 Truffaz joined Parlophone/EMI and recorded Out of a Dream, his second album; still primarily acoustic apart from Marcello Giuliani’s bass, it displayed notable maturity and established a personal post-bop identity. Compositions surpassed those of the debut, and the road-tested band communicated with precision. The 1998 album The Dawn altered direction entirely. Now a quartet, the group recorded eight originals that incorporated spoken word by Swiss-born rapper, singer, and clarinetist Nya; the title track introduced electric piano. Bending New Corners followed in 1999 as a largely straight-ahead session with electric touches on tracks such as “More,” yet junglist drumming, rap on the title cut and two others, sonic abstraction, astute production, and funky grooves on “Minarets” signaled an emerging collective identity.
Blue Note Records, also under Parlophone ownership, signed Truffaz in early 2000 and promptly assembled material from his initial three EMI France releases. The label then commissioned remixes by Mobile in Motion’s Pierre Audetat and Christophe Calpini, Alex Gopher, Bugge Wesseltoft, and Pierre Henry for the 2001 album Revisité. Mantis appeared the same year, a fluid and inventive exploration of open, taut grooves performed by bassist Michel Benita, drummer Philippe Garcia, and electric guitarist Manu Codjia. The set re-recorded the title track from Nina Valeria with guest oud player Anouar Brahem and featured live junglist drumming, squalling guitars, and vocals by Tunisian Mounir Troudi on “Magrouni,” attracting widespread international acclaim.
Further creative expansion followed. In 2003 both Walk of the Giant Turtle and Bending New Corners reached the United States via Blue Note. The former spotlighted Truffaz’s longstanding quartet of Erbetta, guitarist/keyboardist Patrick Muller, and Giuliani; its opening two-part “Scody” juxtaposed ambient textures against distorted funk and improvisation before resolving in a futuristic disco vamp. “King B” delivered pounding, angular grooves that extended Davis’ voodoo funk from Agharta and Pangea into the present. Saloua in 2005 reflected growing engagement with hip-hop, dub, electronica, and Middle Eastern modalism, again featuring Nya and Troudi alongside returning members Benita, Codjia, and Garcia; reviewers noted the seamless balance of tradition and innovation. Arkhangelsk from 2007, named for a Russian city, reunited the quartet with vocalists Nya, Ed Harcourt, and iconic French pop singer/songwriter Christophe, employing groove, melody, improvisation, texture, and songcraft in a manner that evoked contemporaries Arve Henriksen and Nils Petter Molvaer.
Three duo projects appeared in 2008. Paris paired Truffaz with vocalist and human beatboxer Sly Johnson across soul, pop, vanguard doo-wop, and hip-hop. Benares presented singer Indrani Mukherjee in a quartet completed by tabla master Apurba Mukherjee and pianist Malcolm Braff. Mexico resulted from collaboration with Tijuana’s Murcof, a glitch-oriented, classically influenced ambient laptop artist and producer. All three were later gathered as the double set Rendez-vous: Paris, Benares, Mexico.
In Between arrived in 2011, among Truffaz’s boldest statements, with Giuliani, Erbetta, and keyboardist Benoit Corboz replacing Muller; Sophie Hunger contributed vocals to two tracks, one a reading of Bob Dylan’s “Dirge.” The music moved from dark ambient on “The Secret of the Dead Sea” through modern jazz-funk, improvisation, and refined pop. The 2012 release El Tiempo de la Revolución offered moody, intricate compositions by each quartet member together with vocals on three tracks by theatrical pop singer Ann Aaron, who had been produced by Giuliani on her 2011 album Dogs in Spirit, where Truffaz also appeared.
A second project with Murcof, Being Human Being, emerged in 2014; more musique concrète than jazz, the pieces were developed jointly and segued without interruption, with Truffaz adding tuba and his own electronics alongside occasional contributions from cellist Catherine Delpeuche and clarinetist Nina Truffaz. Doni Doni, a double-length collaboration with Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traore, appeared in 2016 after drummer/percussionist Arthur Hnatek succeeded Erbetta; four songs commissioned for South African troupe Vuyani were included, and French-Malian rapper Oxmo Puccino guested on one track, spanning fusion, pop, electronica, and ambient. Lune Rouge followed in 2019, highlighting Truffaz’s characteristic trumpet timbres, sparse beats, drama, and Eastern inflections; the quartet recording featured Jose James on the co-written “Reflection” and Andrina Bollinger on “She’s the Moon,” whose lyrics originated with Bollinger and Franziska Staubli.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, film director Marie-France Brière invited Truffaz to score her documentary Les Îles de Napoleon and later asked him to reinterpret French cinema themes for the Angoulême film festival. Working with his quartet on these themes led Truffaz to propose a two-album project to Blue Note, which accepted the idea. Rollin’, issued in April 2023, introduced a new lineup retaining only Giuliani alongside drummer/percussionist Raphaël Chassin, keyboardist Alex Anérile, and guitarist Mathis Pascaud; Truffaz selected themes by Nino Rota, Michel Magne, Ennio Morricone, and Alain Romans, with actress and partner Sandrine Bonnaire appearing on “Cesar et Rosalie” and singer Camélia Jordana on “One Silver Dollar.” Clap!, the project’s second installment, followed in October 2023.
Born in Switzerland and raised in France, Truffaz encountered music early through his father, a saxophone player in a dance band. He took up the trumpet during elementary school, joined his father’s group at age ten, and soon appeared with other local ensembles until, at sixteen, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue reached him. That recording prompted deeper study, leading him to pursue music theory, composition, and history at the Conservatoire. His performing range grew to encompass Mozart and Verdi, and he served as a member of L’Orchestre de Suisse.
During university he concentrated on jazz composition and performance, forming Orange, the initial ensemble devoted to his own pieces; drummer Marc Erbetta, a participant from the start, remained a longtime associate. Truffaz immersed himself in Davis’ catalog and example, finding particular fixation in the second quintet’s recordings and the electric works beginning with In a Silent Way. He also absorbed folk traditions from Africa, South America, Mexico, and the Middle and Far East while refining his hard-bop and modal technique.
Following Orange’s dissolution, Truffaz advanced his fusion explorations yet stayed anchored in hard and post-bop. In 1991 the Jury du Concours National de la Defense granted him the Prix Special, France’s distinguished jazz honor, and he made his first appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival that same year. Within three years he led a quintet and issued his debut album, Nina Valeria, on Switzerland’s Elephant label, an effort shaped by Davis’ second quintet and marked by the trumpeter’s emulation of Davis’ tone, muted and open.
In 1994 the quintet undertook a two-year tour of Europe, Russia, and Brazil supported by a Pro Helvetia Foundation grant. Late in 1996 Truffaz joined Parlophone/EMI and recorded Out of a Dream, his second album; still primarily acoustic apart from Marcello Giuliani’s bass, it displayed notable maturity and established a personal post-bop identity. Compositions surpassed those of the debut, and the road-tested band communicated with precision. The 1998 album The Dawn altered direction entirely. Now a quartet, the group recorded eight originals that incorporated spoken word by Swiss-born rapper, singer, and clarinetist Nya; the title track introduced electric piano. Bending New Corners followed in 1999 as a largely straight-ahead session with electric touches on tracks such as “More,” yet junglist drumming, rap on the title cut and two others, sonic abstraction, astute production, and funky grooves on “Minarets” signaled an emerging collective identity.
Blue Note Records, also under Parlophone ownership, signed Truffaz in early 2000 and promptly assembled material from his initial three EMI France releases. The label then commissioned remixes by Mobile in Motion’s Pierre Audetat and Christophe Calpini, Alex Gopher, Bugge Wesseltoft, and Pierre Henry for the 2001 album Revisité. Mantis appeared the same year, a fluid and inventive exploration of open, taut grooves performed by bassist Michel Benita, drummer Philippe Garcia, and electric guitarist Manu Codjia. The set re-recorded the title track from Nina Valeria with guest oud player Anouar Brahem and featured live junglist drumming, squalling guitars, and vocals by Tunisian Mounir Troudi on “Magrouni,” attracting widespread international acclaim.
Further creative expansion followed. In 2003 both Walk of the Giant Turtle and Bending New Corners reached the United States via Blue Note. The former spotlighted Truffaz’s longstanding quartet of Erbetta, guitarist/keyboardist Patrick Muller, and Giuliani; its opening two-part “Scody” juxtaposed ambient textures against distorted funk and improvisation before resolving in a futuristic disco vamp. “King B” delivered pounding, angular grooves that extended Davis’ voodoo funk from Agharta and Pangea into the present. Saloua in 2005 reflected growing engagement with hip-hop, dub, electronica, and Middle Eastern modalism, again featuring Nya and Troudi alongside returning members Benita, Codjia, and Garcia; reviewers noted the seamless balance of tradition and innovation. Arkhangelsk from 2007, named for a Russian city, reunited the quartet with vocalists Nya, Ed Harcourt, and iconic French pop singer/songwriter Christophe, employing groove, melody, improvisation, texture, and songcraft in a manner that evoked contemporaries Arve Henriksen and Nils Petter Molvaer.
Three duo projects appeared in 2008. Paris paired Truffaz with vocalist and human beatboxer Sly Johnson across soul, pop, vanguard doo-wop, and hip-hop. Benares presented singer Indrani Mukherjee in a quartet completed by tabla master Apurba Mukherjee and pianist Malcolm Braff. Mexico resulted from collaboration with Tijuana’s Murcof, a glitch-oriented, classically influenced ambient laptop artist and producer. All three were later gathered as the double set Rendez-vous: Paris, Benares, Mexico.
In Between arrived in 2011, among Truffaz’s boldest statements, with Giuliani, Erbetta, and keyboardist Benoit Corboz replacing Muller; Sophie Hunger contributed vocals to two tracks, one a reading of Bob Dylan’s “Dirge.” The music moved from dark ambient on “The Secret of the Dead Sea” through modern jazz-funk, improvisation, and refined pop. The 2012 release El Tiempo de la Revolución offered moody, intricate compositions by each quartet member together with vocals on three tracks by theatrical pop singer Ann Aaron, who had been produced by Giuliani on her 2011 album Dogs in Spirit, where Truffaz also appeared.
A second project with Murcof, Being Human Being, emerged in 2014; more musique concrète than jazz, the pieces were developed jointly and segued without interruption, with Truffaz adding tuba and his own electronics alongside occasional contributions from cellist Catherine Delpeuche and clarinetist Nina Truffaz. Doni Doni, a double-length collaboration with Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traore, appeared in 2016 after drummer/percussionist Arthur Hnatek succeeded Erbetta; four songs commissioned for South African troupe Vuyani were included, and French-Malian rapper Oxmo Puccino guested on one track, spanning fusion, pop, electronica, and ambient. Lune Rouge followed in 2019, highlighting Truffaz’s characteristic trumpet timbres, sparse beats, drama, and Eastern inflections; the quartet recording featured Jose James on the co-written “Reflection” and Andrina Bollinger on “She’s the Moon,” whose lyrics originated with Bollinger and Franziska Staubli.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, film director Marie-France Brière invited Truffaz to score her documentary Les Îles de Napoleon and later asked him to reinterpret French cinema themes for the Angoulême film festival. Working with his quartet on these themes led Truffaz to propose a two-album project to Blue Note, which accepted the idea. Rollin’, issued in April 2023, introduced a new lineup retaining only Giuliani alongside drummer/percussionist Raphaël Chassin, keyboardist Alex Anérile, and guitarist Mathis Pascaud; Truffaz selected themes by Nino Rota, Michel Magne, Ennio Morricone, and Alain Romans, with actress and partner Sandrine Bonnaire appearing on “Cesar et Rosalie” and singer Camélia Jordana on “One Silver Dollar.” Clap!, the project’s second installment, followed in October 2023.
Albums
Singles
