Émile Parisien Quartet: Let Them Cook (France)

Émile Parisien – soprano sax, effects

Julien Touery – piano 

Ivan Gélugne – double bass

Julien Loutelier – drums, electronics

Soprano saxophonist and composer Émile Parisien (1982) has received some of the most prestigious awards in French and European jazz: he was awarded the Prix Django Reinhardt in 2012, he was the French artist of the year at Victoires du Jazz 2014, and he won the ECHO Jazz Award as best international instrumentalist (woodwinds category) awarded by the German music critics. 

Parisien studied in Marciac and Toulouse, and from early on in his career, he had the opportunity to meet with jazz icons during the Marciac Jazz Festival. In 2000, he moved to Paris, where he would later form a quartet inspired by the music of Coltrane, Shorter and Coleman and 19th and 20th-century classical music, expressionistic in nature, highlighting improvisation, lately with a slight influence of electronics. He led the quintet with Joachim Kϋhn, the international sextet Louise, played in a duo with Kϋhn, Vincent Peirani and Roberto Negro. He is also a member of the collective with Peirani, Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal, as well as the quartet XXXX, with Michael Vollny, Tim Lefebvre and Christian Lillinger. Among the artists he has collaborated with are Michel Portal, Jacky Terrasson, Daniel Humair, Yaron Herman, John Taylor, Jean-Paul Celea, Hugo Carvalhais, Manu Codjia, Theo Crocker and Nasheet Waits. He has recorded 14 albums as a leader or co-leader; since 2014, he has been an exclusive artist on the prestigious German label ACT. 

Émile Parisien debuted at the Belgrade Jazz Festival as a member of the Vincent Peirani quintet in 2016, the following year, he presented his quartet. This year, that ensemble marks two decades of existence - this spring, they released a new album, Let Them Cook.