Louis Sclavis

Louis Sclavis ranks among the foremost clarinetists active in free jazz and the avant-garde, delivering improvised music distinguished by uncommon clarity and precision. Although his command of technique is formidable, it never eclipses his musicality, for he remains a deeply expressive performer. He began clarinet studies at age nine and performed in a local brass band prior to enrolling at the Lyon Conservatory of Music. Between 1975 and 1982 he appeared with numerous groups, most prominently the Henri Texier Quartet and Chris MacGregor's Brotherhood of Breath. In 1982 he assembled his own ensemble, Le Tour de France, consisting of six musicians drawn from different regions of France. He also performed and recorded with such leading free-jazz figures as Evan Parker, Lol Coxhill, Tony Oxley, and Peter Brötzmann on the FMP and NATO labels.

In 1984 he issued the solo album Clarinettes on Ida. That same year he organized a new quartet, which subsequently documented its work on Chine for Ida in 1987 and Rouge for ECM in 1991. In 1987 he established a septet that likewise recorded for Ida. In 1988 he received the Prix Django Reinhardt as French jazzman of the year. He also formed the Trio de Clarinettes with Jacques di Donato and Armand Angster; besides improvised material, the trio performed compositions by its members as well as works by Brian Ferneyhough and Pierre Boulez. Around the same period he encountered choreographer and dancer Mathilde Monnier, resulting in several joint performances.

During the following decade Sclavis gained wider recognition, earning a British Jazz Award in 1991 while continuing to record frequently for FMP and ECM. Among the projects were a trio with Aldo Romano and Henri Texier, plus appearances and sessions with his clarinet trio, his septet, percussionist Trilok Gurtu, and a Cecil Taylor large ensemble. Beyond jazz activities, he composed for theater and film. His 2002 release Dans la Nuit served as the soundtrack to an antiquated French silent film. In 2004 he issued Napoli's Walls, his first effort to create music for visual art; the pieces drew on the history and culture of Naples as viewed through the work of French artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest, who resided and worked in the city for several years. Phare followed a year later. Two further ECM releases appeared with his sextet—Imparfait des Langues and Les Violences de Rameau—while L'Engrenage, recorded with Le Quatour Habanera, came out on Alpha in 2007. In 2008 he released only one album, Moitie du Monde, a collection of theater and cinema pieces issued by JMS.

Although celebrated as a leading jazz improviser, Sclavis emphasized composed material on the 2009 ECM return Lost on the Way, supported by saxophonist Matthieu Metzger, electric guitarist Maxime Delpierre, electric bassist Olivier Lété, and drummer François Merville. That year also brought the Intakt duet album Yokohama with pianist Aki Takese and the Between the Lines long-form suite Piffkaneiro with the Swedish new-music group Koj. After extensive touring on the festival circuit, he took a well-earned break. His next recording, Sources, appeared on ECM in 2012 with the Atlas Trio—keyboardist Benjamin Moussay and guitarist Gilles Coronado—preceding a global tour. In May 2014 Label Bleu released 3+3, an album featuring two trios: Sclavis, Texier, and Romano alongside Enrico Rava, Nguyên Lê, and Bojan Z. August brought Silk and Salt Melodies on ECM, which added Iranian percussionist Keyvan Chemirani to the trio heard on Sources. Also in 2014, Sclavis joined pianist Aki Takase's quartet for Flying Soul on Intakt, together with violinist Dominique Pifarély and cellist Vincent Courtois. The following year he re-recorded Lost on the Way in a quintet format with Matthieu Metzger on soprano and alto saxophones, Maxime Delpierre on guitar, bassist Olivier Lété, and drummer François Merville; the group toured the project for more than a year.

Sclavis frequently accords equal weight to his work as a collaborating sideman and soloist as to his activities as a bandleader, often appearing in these varied roles within a single year. In 2016 he served as featured soloist with Ensemble Amarillis on Inspiration Baroque, a program tracing seventeenth-century musical sensibilities from Italy through France to England and Germany. That year he also recorded the improvised concert duet Live at Romanshorn with double bassist Elise Dabrowski in Switzerland. In 2017 he reunited with Pifarély and Courtois for Asian Fields Variation on ECM, marking the first occasion the three had worked together in a trio setting. Produced by Manfred Eicher, the album preceded a European tour.