Laurent Cugny

Laurent Cugny ( born April 14, 1955 in La Garenne- Colombes ) is a French jazz musician ( pianist, big band leader, composer, arranger ), jazz critics and jazz scholars.

Life and work

Cugny began with ten years to take piano lessons. In 1977, he earned a degree in economics from the University of Paris, followed by a degree ( DEA) in Film Studies in 1978. 1981 to 1991 he was professor of piano and arranging at the Centre d' information Musicale in Paris. From 2000, he taught at the Sorbonne, where he obtained his doctorate in musicology in 2001 ( about methods of jazz analysis). From 1994 he was also active as a jazz critic, for example, in " Jazz Magazine ", " Jazzman ", " Les Cahiers du Jazz ", " La Revue d'Analyse Musicale ". He also writes movie reviews, for example, for " Cinematographe " where he worked as a journalist 1977/8.

As a jazz musician he founded in 1979 the Big Band Lumiere, and took with her and the 1994 to 1997 he directed the Orchestre National de Jazz ( ONJ ) from the 1980s on several albums. In 1987 he played with Gil Evans and recorded with him and his Big Band Lumiere. With his band Lumière 1980 he won the first prize at the " Concours National de Jazz de La Défense ", as well as a prize for composition. In 1992 he recorded the album for Emarcy Dromesko with the Big Band Lumiere.

In 1997 he founded the Maison du Jazz in Paris, a jazz cultural center, are given to the courses, seminars, concerts and exhibitions take place. He is now the artistic director of this center.

Awards

In 1997 he received the French Django d'Or for Best Orchestra ( ONJ ), 2001 for the establishment of the Maison du Jazz in Paris and in 1994 for his biography of Miles Davis. In 1989 he was awarded the "Prix Django Reinhardt" the " Académie du Jazz " and the 1996 Prix Boris Vian the Académie for his album " Reminiscing " (with his Big Band Lumière ). 2011 Cugnys album La Tectonique was the Nuages ​​(Signature / Harmonia Mundi ) with the Grand Prix de l' Académie du Jazz Award for Best Album of the Year.

Books of Cugny

  • Electrique, Miles Davis 1968-1975, 1994
  • Las Vegas Tango - Une Vie de Gil Evans, 1991 ( he also has a website dedicated to Gil Evans :)
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