Vincent Courtois

Born in Paris in 1968, Vincent Courtois first trained in classical cello before early on opening his playing to jazz and improvisation. Active since the late 1980s, he initially appeared alongside Christian Escoudé and then Didier Levallet, quickly building a career in which the cello moves between contemporary composition, chamber music, free jazz and narrative forms linked to film or the stage. His first albums under his own name, Cello News (1990) and Pleine Lune (1991), already established a distinctive, personal approach: melodic, mobile and open. Over the years Courtois has worked in many formats, from solo to quartet, and has collaborated with artists such as Martial Solal, Louis Sclavis, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Dominique Pifarély and Marc Ducret. His discography also includes Translucide (2000), The Fitting Room (2001), L’Imprévu (2010), West (2015), Bandes originales (2017) and Nothing Else (2023). As a composer he has written for film and television, notably Ernest et Célestine (2012) and Ernest et Célestine: Le Voyage en Charabie (2022). His work is distinguished by a highly articulated cello sound, often at the intersection of restrained lyricism, polyphony and improvisation.