Jazz Articles about Raphaël Pannier

About Raphaël Pannier

Interview

Raphaël Pannier & Khadim Niang: Sabar Jazz, An Historic Summit

by Ian Patterson
April 23, 2026

"Once you have made a decision," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “the universe conspires to make it happen." French drummer Raphaël Pannier may concur, though as a footnote he might also stress the amount of sweat sometimes required to realize one's biggest dreams. Live In Saint Louis, Senegal, a collaboration between Raphaël Pannier Quartet and Khadim Niang & Sabar Group--not only ranks as one of the best jazz albums of 2025, but it also stands out as a groundbreaking ...

Album Review

Raphaël Pannier Quartet & Khadim Niang Sabar Group: Live In Saint Louis, Senegal

Read "Live In Saint Louis, Senegal" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
March 22, 2026

For many people, life is a maze that they navigate the best they can--unaided by the guiding hand of destiny. For a much smaller number, the clear course of their life presents itself early on. Take Raphael Pannier. At just three years of age, he saw Djabote, a performance video by Senegalese sabar percussionist N'Diaye Rose. The Parisian toddler knew then that rhythms would guide his way. And so it proved. A student of classical percussion in Paris, ...

Album Review

Manel Fortia: Despertar

Read "Despertar" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
November 7, 2022

This trio has collectively accompanied such legends and mentors as Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, Miguel Zenón and Arturo O'Farrill. Their Despertar introduces us to double bassist Manel Fortia, whose deep-rooted, emotional precision recalls the late Charlie Haden, pianist Marco Mezquida's sensual lyricism, and drummer Raphaël Pannier's many vivid colors. This is a nine song, eye and ear opening cycle of stirring, Gotham inspired, Euro- tinged Fortia originals. Meaning to awaken, Despertar sheds illumination on the darkness from which ...

Album Review

Manel Fortia: Despertar

Read "Despertar" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
June 4, 2022

Bassist Manel Fortia is from Barcelona, Spain, but between 2016 and 2020 he lived in New York City. His experiences in both cities are the building blocks of the music he composed for this trio album which combines elegant Mediterranean romance with bristling big city energy. The solemn resonance of Fortia's bass plucking on the opening track, “Dormir," resembles the sound of the late, great bassist Charlie Haden, an admitted influence. Fortia's notes could be an alternative version ...

Album Review

Berta Moreno Afro-Jazz Soul Project: Tumaini

by Troy Dostert
June 11, 2021

Tenor saxophonist Berta Moreno released her promising debut, Little Steps, in 2017. It signaled her debt to forbears such as Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson, and displayed an impressive command of bop language. Tumaini, her engaging follow-up, moves in a rather different direction. Time well-spent in Kenya gave Moreno a wider focus for her compositions, as she adroitly melds jazz, R&B and Afro-Latin idioms into an enjoyable musical synthesis. “Tumaini" is a Swahili word for “hope," and there ...

Album Review

Raphaël Pannier Quartet: Faune

by Jerome Wilson
January 24, 2021

On his first recording as a leader, drummer Raphaël Pannier shows himself to be a musician who has one foot in the classical world and one foot in jazz. He leads his group in a set of original and classic compositions from both genres, maintaining a sense of formal grace and improvisational energy throughout. Pannier's quartet performs two familiar jazz tunes. A version of Ornette Coleman's “Lonely Woman" flows with somber intensity; Miguel Zenon's alto flies and Ben ...

Album Review

Raphaël Pannier Quartet: Faune

by Dan Bilawsky
November 3, 2020

The debut from drummer Raphaël Pannier has no difficulty laying out references to modern modes of impressionism and the nature of wildlife implied in its title. Its opener --a ten-minute take on Ornette Coleman's “Lonely Woman" that offers slinky melody, sophisticated coloring, intense upheaval, a bass soliloquy and a return to the shadowy theme--is but the first of many indications that Pannier can paint open compositions in altered light while also awakening and taming tension. It's an artful display of ...