For the eleventh edition of Jazz à la Cité, the FEU is delighted to renew it’s collaboration with pianist Daniel Gassin, who has just released his new album Change of Heart with the Daniel Gassin Crossover Band at the Duc des Lombards. A concert intertwining modern jazz and contemporary influences, don’t miss this opportunity to discover what Daniel has been working on while waiting to get back on stage. The CD will be on sale at the end of the concert. The full Jazz à la Cité festival is available on Citéscope.
Practical Information
Date: Tuesday, October 12 | Time: 8pm | Facebook Event
Covid: Please respect the general physical distancing guidelines. Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance. According to the government’s announcement, you will be asked for your vaccination passport or a negative PCR test done within the last 48h.
About the Artists
Daniel Gassin formed his Crossover Band in 2016 to perform a new series of compositions. The band’s name evokes the style of the music – midway between modern jazz and more contemporary “straight beat” influences, such as neo soul. The band’s members fit the style of the music perfectly, with their diverse backgrounds and knowledge of multiple styles related to the jazz idiom. American multi-instrumentalist Josiah Woodson plays guitar in this project, and the rhythm section is composed of Fabricio Nicolas-Garcia (double bass) and Damien Françon (drums).The band recorded its debut EP in June 2019, featuring US vocal sensation Alita Moses. For this concert, Nicolle Rochelle will join the band and “replace” the singer Alita Moses who cannot be present in Paris at this time.
Daniel Gassin is an Australian pianist and composer of Franco-American descent based in Paris. Before relocating to France in 2013, Daniel garnered both local and international acclaim in his hometown of Melbourne. He was a finalist in the Jazz Solo Piano Competition at the iconic Montreux Jazz Festival in 2007, reached the final three at the Australian National Jazz Awards in 2013, and was nominated for the prestigious Freedman Fellowship in 2016. Since his move to France, Daniel has added an international dimension to his career, as well as becoming an integral part of the Paris jazz scene. In 2016 he became the first pianist to perform at Quincy Jones’ new club in Dubaï – Q’s – inaugurating the venue as part of UK drummer Ollie Howell’s band and playing over 20 concerts there over five weeks.
Damien Françon began playing the drums at the Perpignan music school. He has played in various ensembles from rock and prog rock to funk. He joined the band Nilco (songwriter) with whom he recorded an album and won the SACEM Prize at the Charles Trenet Festival. He also plays with the rock band Mrs Wrong and the Fabulous Fake Twins, with whom he will record an album and go on tour in France. The discovery of jazz and improvisation led to his enrollment at the Conservatory of Perpignan in the class of Serge Lazarevitch, where he obtained a DEM. He participated in several masterclasses with Franck Agulhon, Ari Hoenig, Jorge Rossy, Paco Sery, Vijay Iyer, Steve Coleman… He moved to Paris in 2011 and has devoted his career to music since. He obtained a DEM in jazz in 2012 at the Versailles Conservatory, where he studied with Sylvain Beuf and learned to write and arrange jazz. He perofrms or has performed with: The Basement Quartet (Sylvain Dubrez, Benjamin Lopez, Rémi Meurice), Pascal Mabit Trio, Mathieu Verlot, Anthony Winzenrieth, Sylvain Beuf, Thibault Renou, Robby Marshall, Carlos Mejias, Damian Nueva, Yoann Godefroy, David Gousset, Richard Metairon, Thomas Beuf, Benoit Martin, Jéremy Bruger , Rémi Bouyssière, Edouard Monin, Pierre Maury quartet, Gustave Reichert, Simon Chivallon, Carlos Mejias, Maurizio Congiu, Simon Martineau, Sylvain Brousse, Phillipe Baden Powel, Gaël Horellou, Zacharie Abraham… He teaches at the Bill Evans Piano Academy in Paris.
Fabricio Nicolas was born in Caracas, Venezuela, before resettling with his family in Paris at the age of 6. His Franco-Colombian heritage exposed him to a diverse array of musical influences from an early age, from Latin America to Europe, Africa and the United States. He began studying violin at the age of 9, and took up the guitar and bass guitar when he was 13, focusing on contemporary music styles such as blues, rock, pop, hip-hop and various Afro-Caribbean styles. After becoming increasingly interested in jazz, he joined the ARPEJ Conservatorium in Paris, where he met numerous top French players. From this moment on, he began performing at the major Parisian clubs such as the New Morning, Sunside and Duc des Lombards. At the age of 19, he chose the double bass and began study at the Cery Pontoise Conservatorium with François Méchali. At the same time, he also studied composition and arrangement. After his graduation, he was selected to join the prestigious CNSM de Paris, directed by Riccardo del Fra, where he was able to play with international greats such as Dave Liebman, Miguel Zenon, Tony Malaby, Enrico Pieranunzi, Marc Johnson, Billy Hart, and many others. Today, Fabricio performs extensively in Paris, France, and Europe with a variety of projects, and with some of France’s best-known musicians.
Nicolle Rochelle realized that she was born to sing and perform at the age of 5 years old. Soon after announcing the news to her parents she began training in acting, singing, and dancing and earned her first big role on the TV series Shining Time Station alongside Ringo Starr. In 2006, she arrived in France to star as Josephine Baker in the musical theatre production Looking For Josephine created by well-known French director Jérôme Savary. Nicolle has continued her career primarily in Europe by joining French pop electro-swing group Ginkgoa and singing with different orchestras. She can also be seen performing around the world in places such as Argentina, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Finland, and Japan as an invited guest with big bands or well-known boogie woogie and blues pianists including Christoph Steinbach, Richie Loidl, Jean-Paul Amouroux, Balázs Daniel, and Julien Brunetaud, with whom she has a blues, jazz, and soul band called : Nikki & Jules.
Now a GRAMMY award winning sideman (for work on Beyoncé’s Love on Top), as well as a band leader recently releasing the long anticipated debut album Suite Elemental, Josiah Woodson picked up trumpet at the age of 12. As a product of the Oaktown Jazz Workshop he refined his craft under the private instruction of his late mentor, Khalil Shaheed. Woodson obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, where he studied under Marcus Belgrave. Moving to Boston to receive a Master of Music degree (with academic honors) from the New England Conservatory of Music, Woodson was selected to perform at the Panama Jazz Festival with Danilo Perez, David Sanchez, Victor Paz, and Kurt Rosenwinkel. Woodson has had the honor of collaborating and/or sharing the stage with such notable artists and musicians as Branford Marsalis, Billy Hart, Gary Bartz, David Sanchez, Danilo Perez, Ronnie Burrage, Mario Canonge, John Lockwood, Dave Holland, Ben Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Michelle Zenino, Marcus Belgrave, Clarence Clemons, Beyoncé Knowles, Blitz the Ambassador, Mos Def, Winard Harper, Steve Turre, Najee and many more.