Laurent Coq

France-born pianist Laurent Coq has earned transatlantic recognition through his deep affinity for jazz and his command of the keyboard. Based between Paris and New York, he maintains an active performance schedule with a local trio that includes tenor saxophonist Davil El-Malek and violist Oliver Zanot, as well as a quartet anchored by tenor saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh, bassist Brandon Owens, and drummer Damion Reid. Having begun piano studies at age seven, Coq secured a gold medal in 1988 for admission to the National Academy of Arts. He chose instead to enroll at C.I.M. in Paris, where he divided two years between coursework and trio work alongside Jules Bikôkô bi Njami and Daniel Garcia Bruno while also serving as sideman with the Paris Barcelona Swing Connection, the Bocquel Connection, and vocalist Marcel Kanche. A 1994 grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs enabled him to relocate temporarily to New York for lessons with John Hicks, Mulgrew Miller, and Bruce Barth; the latter subsequently produced Coq’s debut recordings, Jaywalker and Changeable. In 2001 Coq took on his first production assignment, supervising the sessions for French songstress Laurence Allison’s album Thelonious and Bud Together Again.