Jacob tinkles the next-generation ivories
By TAI KAWABATA
Christian Jacob is one of the best-selling foreign jazz pianists in Japan. The New York Times labeled him “phenomenal." Some people call this classically trained Frenchman a genius and regard him as a next-generation leader in the jazz world.
Christian Jacob (right) and his band.
Jacob, who is now active in America's West Coast, will make a major debut in Yokohama and Tokyo this month leading his trio, with Trey Henry on bass and Ray Brinker on drums.
Born in Lorraine in 1958, Jacob entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris at the age of just 12, and graduated in 1978 with a First Prize.
But Jacobs' classical training does not color his music in an “unjazzy" way. While playing jazz — which he discovered at the age of 9 or 10 — as a hobby, he developed his own style. And though he is completely steeped in jazz idiom, his playing is based on solid pianism that can give full play to the instrument's musical power: his tones are clear, his melody lines smooth and flowing and his harmonies expansive.
On Japanese-printed CDs, Jacob's performance can be heard on Styne & Mine, a trio performance, and Blues on the Side, as a member of a quartet led by the West Coast's leading trumpeter Carl Saunders. “Contradictions" appeared on Oct. 3.
In the Yokohama and Tokyo performances, he will include four Japanese tunes.
By TAI KAWABATA
Christian Jacob is one of the best-selling foreign jazz pianists in Japan. The New York Times labeled him “phenomenal." Some people call this classically trained Frenchman a genius and regard him as a next-generation leader in the jazz world.
Christian Jacob (right) and his band.
Jacob, who is now active in America's West Coast, will make a major debut in Yokohama and Tokyo this month leading his trio, with Trey Henry on bass and Ray Brinker on drums.
Born in Lorraine in 1958, Jacob entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris at the age of just 12, and graduated in 1978 with a First Prize.
But Jacobs' classical training does not color his music in an “unjazzy" way. While playing jazz — which he discovered at the age of 9 or 10 — as a hobby, he developed his own style. And though he is completely steeped in jazz idiom, his playing is based on solid pianism that can give full play to the instrument's musical power: his tones are clear, his melody lines smooth and flowing and his harmonies expansive.
On Japanese-printed CDs, Jacob's performance can be heard on Styne & Mine, a trio performance, and Blues on the Side, as a member of a quartet led by the West Coast's leading trumpeter Carl Saunders. “Contradictions" appeared on Oct. 3.
In the Yokohama and Tokyo performances, he will include four Japanese tunes.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
