Hugh Coltman

Born in England and based in Paris since the early 2000s, Hugh Coltman has developed a career that straddles the British scene and the French musical landscape. Initially the singer of the blues‑rock band The Hoax in the 1990s, Coltman later turned to a solo career blending folk‑tinged songwriting with blues and pop. As a solo artist he released Stories From The Safe House (2008), Shadows – Songs of Nat King Cole (2015), Who’s Happy? (2018) and Silk & Stone (2020), records that trace a gradual shift from singer‑songwriter territory toward a world closely tied to vocal jazz, swing and New Orleans music. Firmly established on the French scene, he regularly collaborates with French jazz musicians on both reinterpretations and original projects, and performs in clubs, theatres and festivals across Europe. His work rests on a distinctly textured voice, a taste for brass arrangements and a narrative‑centred songwriting approach, with a repertoire split between original compositions and reworkings of the American songbook.