French double bass player, improviser and composer, Joëlle Léandre

French double bass player, improviser and composer, Joëlle Léandre is one of the dominant figures of the new European music. Trained in orchestral as well as contemporary music, she has played with l’Itinéraire, 2e2m and Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain. Joëlle Léandre has also worked with Merce Cunningham and with John Cage, who has composed especially for her – as have Scelsi, Fénelon, Hersant, Lacy, Campana, Jolas, Clementi and about 40 composers.

As well as working in contemporary music, Léandre has played with some of the great names in jazz and improvisation, such as Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Evan Parker, Irene Schweizer, William Parker, Barre Phillips, Pascal Contet, Steve Lacy, Lauren Newton, Peter Kowald, Urs Leimgruber, Mat Maneri, Roy Campbell, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Mark Naussef, Marilyn Crispell, India Cooke and so many others…

She has written extensively for dance and theater, and has staged a number of multidisciplinary performances. She got the DAAD at Berlin, is welcomed as artist resident at Villa Kujiyama (Kyoto). In 2002, 2004 and 2006, she is Visiting Professor at Mills college, Oakland, CA, Chaire Darius Milhaud, for improvisation and composition. Her work as a composer and a performer, both in solo recitals and a part of ensembles, has put her under the lights of the most prestigious stages of Europe, the Americas and Asia.

From 1981 to 2009, Joëlle Léandre has about 150 recordings to her credit.

Bands
Quintet
Fragments-Suite lyrique - with Jean-Luc Cappozo, Lori Freedman,
Olivier Benoit, Simon Goubert

Quartet
Stone Quartet – with Mat Maneri, Marylin Crispell, Roy Campbell (photo)
Quartet Noir – with Marilyn Crispell, Fritz Hauser, Urs Leimgruber (photo)

Trios
Les diaboliques – with Irene Schweizer & Maggie Nicols (photo)
Trio with François Houle & Raymond Strid (photo)

Duos
Duos with Pascal Contet (photo), Jean-Luc Cappozzo (photo), Satoh Masahiko,
Lauren Newton (photo), India Cooke, Quentin Sirjacq, Marylin Crispell, William Parker, Akosh S.