Pierrick Pédron

Pierrick Pédron is one of the best alto saxophonists in French Jazz, he is also a talented composer with a very open musical universe. Permanently on the move, he is never there where we expect him, often changing direction musically but always staying on the course of innovation, of instrumental discipline and the pleasure of playing to make his music heard by the greatest number.

For his 50th birthday, Pierrick wanted to rise to the occasion. With the help from the producer and friend Daniel Yvinec, he decided to record one album that would encapsulate all his musician’s desires. "Fifty/Fifty New York Sessions" was released in March 2021 on the Gazebo label. Carefully thought out, the rhythm section of Fifty/Fifty New York Sessions is a completely new combination of undisputed masters of their art, with Sullivan Fortner on piano, Larry Grenadier on double bass, Marcus Gilmore on drums. Free-flowing and entirely acoustic, it encapsulates his love for New York City and its relentless exploration of jazz as an art-form.

Pierrick has covered a lot of ground since “Cherokee“(2001), his first album as a leader, accompanied by the remarkable Baptiste Trotignon, Vincent Artaud and Frank Agulhon. We have seen him roaming the planet, live or in the studio, with Mulgrew Miller, Phil Woods, Roy Hargrove or Ambrose Akinmusire. We have heard him switching with incredible ease from straight-ahead jazz to baffling electric experiments. We have felt him find inspiration in the legacy of Cannonball Adderley’s phrasing as well as Ornette Coleman’s and Maceo Parker’s. In short, we have witnessed the colorful explosion of his multi-faceted talent.

The music you‘ll hear arises from the voracious encounter of these three musicians, who joyfully interplay under the direction of Pierrick‘s saxophone, all of them running around in the playground of his inspiring compositions. This quartet belongs indeed to New York‘s creative tradition: it‘s passionate, bold, striking. And to top it off, the recording by engineer James Farber − whose name has been associated with every great jazz record in the past 30 years − pushes the quality of the music to its perfect expression and gives it the varnish that you can only find in the finest artwork.