Franck Amsallem
Franck Amsallem ( born October 25, 1961 in Oran ) is a French jazz pianist and composer.
Life and work
Amsallem was born in Algeria, but grew up in Nice, learned to play the piano at age seven and studied at the local conservatory and classical saxophone. He then moved in the early 1980s in the United States, where he studied at the Berklee College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music; where he worked among others with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Harry Belafonte, Jerry Bergonzi, Rick Margitza, Bobby Watson, Gerry Mulligan, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider and Charles Lloyd. In 1992 his first album, Out a Day on the label OMD. Since the early 2000s, he lives in Paris and has released a number of albums since then, including Tim Ries, Joe Chambers.
His composition Obstinated was performed by the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. He has also written for the WDR Big Band and the Orchestre National de Jazz.
Prizes and awards
Amsallem in 1989 awarded the Fondation de la Vocation Award, in 1990 with the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship to compose works for string orchestra and in 1990 with the ASCAP Award For Young Composer.
Disco Graphical Notes
- Out a Day ( OMD, 1992)
- New York Stories ( Blue Note, 1992)
- Regards ( Freelance, 1993)
- Is That So ( Sunnyside, 1996)
- Years Gone By ( Challenge / A, 1998)
- On Second Thought ( Naïve, 2000)
- Summer Times ( Nocturne / Sunnyside, 2003)
- A Week in Paris ( Nocturne, 2005)
- Amsallem Sings ( Fram, 2009)