Louis Sclavis is a clarinetist who has been called the best in avant-garde and free jazz. He plays improvised music with extraordinary clarity and precision. His technique is impressive, but it doesn’t make him a bad player. Sclavis started studying clarinet when he was nine years old. Before he entered the Lyons Conservatory of Music, he was a member of a local brass band. He played in a variety of ensembles from 1975-1982, including the Henri Texier Quartet, and Chris MacGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath. In 1982, he formed Le Tour de France with six musicians from France. He recorded and played with many prominent free jazz musicians including Lol Coxhill and Tony Oxley for the FMP label and NATO label. He recorded Clarinettes in 1984 for the Ida label. He also formed a quartet that year. The band would record two albums for Ida: Chine (1987), for Ida, and Rouge (1991), for ECM. He also founded a septet in 1987 that would record for Ida. He was named French jazzman of year in 1988 by the Prix Django Reinhardt. He founded the Trio de Clarinettes that year with Jacques di Donato and Armand Angster. The group played improvised pieces and also performed works by members and classical composers like Pierre Boulez and Brian Ferneyhough. Mathilde Monnier, choreographer and dancer, met him around that time and they worked together on many performances. Sclavis’ fame grew over the next ten years. He won a British Jazz Award 1991 and regularly recorded for FMP or ECM. Henri Texier and Aldo Romano formed a trio. He also recorded and performed with his clarinet trio and septet with Trilok Gurtu as percussionist, and a Cecil Taylor large ensemble. Sclavis is also known for his compositions for film and theater. Dans la Nuit, his 2002 album, was the soundtrack to an old French silent film. Napoli’s Walls was Sclavis’s first attempt at providing a soundtrack for visual arts. A series of pieces was recorded by him that were inspired by the history and culture in Naples, as seen through the eyes of Ernest Pignon-Ernest (a French artist who lived and worked there for many years). Phare appeared a year later in 2005, followed by Imparfait des Langues in 2007. from http://www.allmusic.com
