François Jeanneau

Born in Paris in 1935, François Jeanneau first trained as a flautist at the conservatory before teaching himself the soprano and then tenor saxophone, after discovering jazz at Paris concerts by Charlie Parker and Sidney Bechet. In the early 1960s he played in drummer Mac Kac’s quartet at the Club Saint‑Germain and accompanied visiting American musicians — an experience that shaped his musical language. Following a stay in Finland in 1962 with Aldo Romano and Jean‑François Jenny‑Clark, he turned toward free forms of improvisation and took part in the early milestones of free jazz in France, notably with Jef Gilson on Enfin! and with François Tusques on Free Jazz. His career also included the group Triangle (1970–1974) and then a leader discography featuring Un bien curieuse planète (1975), Techniques douces (1976) and Ephémère (1977), blending composition, modal jazz, open improvisation and orchestral timbres. Jeanneau founded Pandemonium in 1979, directed the Orchestre national de jazz at its creation in 1986, and developed substantial pedagogical work at the Conservatoire de La Réunion and the CNSMD in Paris. From the late 1990s he also engaged in soundpainting with Walter Thompson and within the Spoumj.