Éric Legnini

Éric Legnini ( born February 20, 1970 in Huy ) is a Belgian jazz pianist, composer and arranger.

Life and work

Legnini learned to play classical piano aged six years; an album of Erroll Garner brought him later to jazz. Even in his youth he played with saxophonist Jacques Pelzer. After two years in New York City, where he studied with pianist Richie Beirach, he returned to Belgium. As early as 1990 he was a teacher of jazz piano at the Brussels Conservatory. In the same year a television documentary film about him.

Legnini now lives in Paris, where he played with their own trio and plays (2007 with bassist and drummer Mathias Allamane Franck Agulhon ) and with the quartet of saxophonist Stefano Di Battista and the quintet with trumpeter Flavio Boltro. He also played with Eric Le Lann, André Ceccarelli, Aldo Romano, the Belmondo brothers, Branford Marsalis, Aka Moon, Toots Thielemans, Joe Lovano and Philip Catherine, but also with singers like Claude Nougaro and Serge Reggiani. With his trio he took the soul-jazz albums Miss Soul (2005, Label Bleu ) and Big Boogaloo (2006, Label Bleu ) on. In 2011 he presented the album The Vox with his band The Afro Jazz Beat, in which he combined harmonious fusion jazz with the functions of Afrobeat; it was named " Album of the Year " (Les Victoires du Jazz ). In Japan, he published in 2012 the album Ballads.

In 1998 he was elected to a listener vote Belgian radio station 'Best Belgian jazz pianist ". In 2005 he received the Django d' Or ( Belgium).