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Jean-Charles Richard was unanimously awarded first prize at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) at age 18, and the Diplome de Formation Supérieure en Jazz at age 21. He has won a string of prizes for excellence (Bellan 1990, Concours Européen des Jeunes Solistes de Jazz 1991, Sacem 1999, Académie Charles Cros 2012), and is a renowned teacher (CA diplom in classical saxophone and jazz) with a taste for challenge and sharing.
Jean-Charles is a complete artist for whom jazz is a starting point, an open, integrative aesthetic that brings cultures together. A universal passport.
Stage references: Marc Copland, Claudia Solal, Pauline Bartissol, Jean-Francois Baez, Daniel Humair, Martial Solal, David Patrois, Chris Culpo, Didier Levallet, Jean Marie Machado, Peter Herbert, Stracho Temelkovski, Didier Ithursarry, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de L'Opéra de Lyon, Saudades Jazz Orchestra in Austria...
"Jean-Charles Richard has immense talent and infinite possibilities. He's simply one of the best musicians I know." Dave Liebman
Eric Löhrer, guitar
Eric Löhrer began his career while studying philosophy. At the age of 23, he recorded his first trio album to immediate critical acclaim.
His projects as leader or co-leader follow one another (Eric Löhrer Trio / Open Air 1990-1993, Olympic Gramofon 1996, Solo 1998, Eric Löhrer Quartet 2008, Duo avec Didier Malherbe 2011, LegACY 2023), while he pursues a career as a sought-after and eclectic sideman: he has performed on the jazz scene alongside Jean-Michel Pilc, Andy Emler, Julien Lourau, Eric Barret, Edouard Ferlet, Elisabeth Kontomanou, Kellylee Evans… and on the pop/world scene alongside Ibrahim Maalouf, Rokia Traoré, Geoffrey Oryema, Jeanne Cherhal, Ornette, Alain Chamfort and Steve Nieve.
Since 2011, he has been teaching jazz and contemporary music at the CRR de Paris.
"His talent as a guitarist and his deep musicality are familiar to us... He knows how to play nuance or violence, strong expressiveness or fine construction..." (Xavier Prévost)
PRESS
“It's a pleasure to see a new album by the too-rare Éric Löhrer, a guitarist of all stripes but, above all, a jazzman of (very) great talent. It's even more pleasing to find him in excellent company, with Jean-Charles Richard, master musician and top-flight improviser (...). Their music exudes the blend of mastery and freedom that prevailed in Lacy's universe, with a remarkable quality of expression. On soprano, Jean-Charles Richard doesn't play the epigone, but he brings to fruition a certain idea of this singular art. And Éric Löhrer's guitar is in constant dialogue with the intimacy of the music. A total success!
Xavier Prévost / les DNJ, January 4, 2025
“Jean-Charles opens the first piece, composed by Eric. And a soprano sound of incredible clarity and density penetrates your ears. (...) Eric deploys with infinite gentleness - and a few rocking escapades - his harmonic science, his taste for melody and sound, and his implacable and impeccable sense of rhythmic placement (...) A magnificent disc where compositions by Lacy, Monk plus one by Cecil Taylor and a spiritual (Sometimes I feel like a motherless child) follow one another without the slightest hiatus, carried as they are by a duo of staggering musicality, and which should delight the ears of any self-respecting music lover. ”
Thierry Quénum / Couleurs Jazz, January 8, 2025
“Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne, January 23, 2025, 7.30pm.
It was in the heart of the Hans Josephsohn exhibition, between two monumental sculptures of 2002 vintage, that the two musicians played part of the repertoire from their recent album L[EG]ACY.
A composition by Steve Lacy, among others, entitled The Hoot, was an opportunity to fully appreciate the beauty of the entire concert: mutual listening, a subtle blend of rigor and absolute freedom. The presence in the hall of passionate amateurs and renowned musicians
says enough about the strength of the artistic event that took place there, in a palpable intensity of listening, like a secret ceremony.”
Xavier Prévost / Jazz Magazine, January 25, 2025
“Through a repertoire combining themes by the master, titles by Thelonious Monk and compositions by Éric Löhrer, the two accomplices immediately succeed in creating a magical climate, alternating between meditative tracks conducive to contemplation and lively pieces rich in melody and harmony. (...) The ensemble leaves plenty of space for the interweaving lines, and above all for the depth of the discourse, with Löhrer and Richard delicately sculpting each note with infinite nuance, without ever fearing silence. As if in suspension, this stripped-down rereading of great purity transcends a music that seems to escape time. Magnificent!
Félix Marciano / Jazz Magazine, February 2025
“A duo that delicately touches the soul of every jazz lover. A stripped-down formula for wide-open ears”
Guy Sitruk, Jazz à Paris, November 2024
“Very fine record! ”Franck Médioni, FB, November 2024
“Duo haut de gamme” Culturejazz, December 2024
3 tracks played in the program “Au cœur du jazz” / Nicolas Pommaret / France Musique / December 2024 / January 2025.
Jazzpirine, RadioJ, January 19, 2025 (Monique Feldstein)
Album L[EG]ACY “ Hit Couleurs Jazz ” and selected on Couleurs Jazz Radio
French version