Éric Legnini (born 20 February 1970 in

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...

, near

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, Belgium) is a Belgian jazz pianist and bandleader of the Éric Legnini Trio. Legnini was born into an artistic family from Italy. The family immigrated to Belgium, where he started playing the piano at age 6 and initiated in jazz in his teens. In 1988 he traveled to the United States for two years to study American jazz. He returned as a teacher of jazz piano at the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music, where he met

Jacques Pelzer Jacques Pelzer (24 June 1924 – 6 August 1994) was a Belgian musician. He played alto saxophone and flute. Notably, his performance with Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz t ...

. The result was the Pelzer album ''Never Let Me Go'' with guest stars

Barney Wilen Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen (4 March 1937 – 25 May 1996) was a French tenor and soprano saxophonist and jazz composer. Life Wilen was born in Nice, France; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. He began ...

and

Michel Graillier Michel Graillier (18 October 1946, Lens, Pas-de-Calais, France – 11 February 2003, Paris) was a French jazz pianist. Biography From the ages of four to eighteen, Graillier studied classical piano in Lens, France. During adolescence, he work ...

. He started to play piano in the Stefano di Battista Quartet.Label Bleu: Eric Legnini biography
/ref> In the 1990s, he worked with

Flavio Boltro Flavio Boltro (born May 5, 1961) is an Italian trumpet and flugelhorn jazz player. Career Flavio Boltro started playing trumpet at age nine and then entered the Turin school of Classical Music "G.Verdi". During his seven years at the school, ...

(trumpet) and Stefano Di Battista (saxophone) forming the jazz ensemble Éric Legnini Trio that caught attention in the 1990s. He has played with fellow artists like

Aldo Romano Aldo Romano (born 16 January 1941) is an Italian jazz drummer. He also founded a rock group in 1971. Biography He was born in Belluno, Italy. Romano moved to France as a child and by the 1950s he was playing guitar and drums professionally in P ...

, Belmondo Quintet, John Ruocco, Félix Simtaine,

Jeanfrançois Prins Jeanfrançois Prins (born February 18, 1967) is a Belgian jazz guitarist, composer, vocalist and record producer. He has spent many years between New York City and Berlin where he was leading the Jazz Guitar departments in both music universiti ...

Michel Hatzigeorgiou Michel Hatzigeorgiou (born 1961) is a Belgian bass guitarist. He was born in Belgium from Greek parents. He started playing bouzouki at the age of 9, then switched to electric guitar at 11 and finally to electric bass at 14. He could have or shou ...

, Dré Pallemaerts, Emanuele Cisi,

Toninho Horta Antônio Maurício Horta de Melo (born December 2, 1948) is a Brazilian jazz guitarist and vocalist. In addition to composing and performing his own work, Horta has worked for many years as arranger or sideman for Brazilian artists such as Eli ...

Philip Catherine Philip Catherine (born 27 October 1942) is a Belgian jazz guitarist. Biography Philip Catherine was born in London, England, to an English mother and Belgian father, and was raised in Brussels, Belgium. His grandfather was a violinist in the ...

Serge Reggiani Serge Reggiani (2 May 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an Italian-French actor and singer. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight. After studying acting at the Conservatoire des arts cinématog ...

Hein van de Geyn Hein van de Geyn (born 18 July 1956) is a jazz double bassist, composer and band leader from the Netherlands. Van de Geyn also teaches double bass and music. Early life Hein van de Geyn was born in Schijndel, Netherlands on 18 July 1956. He st ...

, Marcia Maria,

André Ceccarelli André "Dédé" Ceccarelli (born 5 January 1946) is a French jazz drummer. Biography After learning to play the drums from his father, Ceccarelli started out playing in the salons of the Hotel Royal Nice Promenade des Anglais at the age of fif ...

Éric Le Lann Éric Le Lann (born 1957 in Brittany) is a French jazz trumpeter. He moved to Paris in 1977 where he had his professional debut and gained notice in 1980. He has worked with Aldo Romano, Henri Salvador, and others. He also did music for films inc ...

Paco Sery Paco Sery (born 1 May 1956 in Côte d'Ivoire) is a world music and jazz fusion drummer. He has played with Joe Zawinul and Eddy Louiss. He also has his own band, releasing his first solo album, ''Voyages'', in 2000. Discography With Sixun ...

and others. Legnini had great admiration for the works of

Phineas Newborn Phineas Newborn Jr. (December 14, 1931 – May 26, 1989) was an American jazz pianist, whose principal influences were Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Bud Powell. Biography Newborn was born in Whiteville, Tennessee, and came from a musical fami ...

, dedicating the piece ''The Memphis Dude'' to him. The track appears in his album ''Miss Soul''. Legnini won "Octave de la musique jazz" in 2006 and "Instrumental album of the year" during 2011 ''Victoires du jazz'' for his album ''The Vox''.

Discography

Albums

Éric Legnini Trio * 1990: ''Essentiels'' (

Igloo An igloo (Inuit languages: , Inuktitut syllabics (plural: )), also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of suitable snow. Although igloos are often associated with all Inuit, they were traditionally used only b ...

) * 1990: ''Natural Balance'' * 1993: ''Antraigues'' (P Jazz) * 1995: ''Rhythm Sphere'' (Igloo) * 2005: ''Miss Soul'' (Label Bleu) * 2007: ''Big Boogaloo'' (Label Bleu) * 2009: ''Trippin'' (B. Flat) (peaked in FRA at No. 103) * 2012: ''Ballads'' (Discograph) (peaked in FRA No. 55) Eric Legnini and the Afro Jazz Beat * 2011: ''The Vox'' (Discograph) (peaked in FRA No. 113) * 2013: ''Sing Twice!'' (Discograph) (peaked in FRA No. 139)

References

External links

Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legnini, Eric 21st-century Belgian composers Belgian jazz composers Belgian male jazz composers 1970 births Living people People from Huy Belgian jazz pianists Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels 21st-century Belgian pianists Label Bleu artists Igloo Records artists 20th-century Belgian male musicians 21st-century male musicians