René Urtreger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since January 2007. |
René Urtreger began his piano studies at the age of four and in his adolescence furthered them in the Conservatory of Classical Music and had an orientation toward jazz, playing in a small Parisian club, the "Sullyt d' Auteil" with an orchestra of students directed by Hubert Damisch, and comprising among others, by Sacha Distel and Louis Viale.
In 1953, he won first prize in a piano contest for amateurs and from that moment decided to be a professional musician. In 1954, he accompanied in a Parisian concert two great American teachers that were found playing in the French capital: the saxophone player state, Mr. Byas and the extraordinary trumpet player, Buck Clayton. With both he cooperated in the "Salone du Jazz" and their extraordinary contribution became one of the best requested French performances by the American musicians that toured the French capital.
Once he finished the active(military?) duty that would carry out between 1955 and 1957, René Urtreger would play in a club on the left bank of the Seine, the famous "St Germain" along with two Giants of international jazz: Miles Davis and Lester Young. It impressed this last one of the level of Urtreger, requested al pianist that accompanied him in a short tour by Europe in 1956. Its contributions in those last years of the 50's were innumerable and almost always you exaggerate. It had the immense fortune to touch next to: Lionel Hampton, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and Ben Webster among others before abandoning during a long period from time the jazz, and to be dedicated, by reasons of survival, to accompany al piano to several singers of varieties. His work, sensitive, with a full and dense sound of swing, carries to to be awarded by the "Accademie du Jazz of France" with the prize, "Django Reinhardt", the highest reward for a jazz player of the neighboring country.
In 1977, he reappeared on the Paris jazz scene with the intention to resume his career.In that second phase, participated with brilliance, not so much solo piano as accompanying in small groups, with Lee Konitz, Aldo Romano or Barney Wilen. In 1980, he played in the Antibes Jazz Festival, being this action the event but important of this last phase of his career. His music was inspired indisputably by the piano style of his teacher, Bud Powell. Urtreger is a musician that always played bebop, and a disciple of Charlie Parker.
