Boulou Ferré (born Jean-Jacques Ferret, 24 April 1951) is a French virtuoso jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, and improviser. He is the brother of Elios Ferré, also a jazz musician, with whom he has recorded widely. His repertoire includes jazz and classical music. He is considered one of the greatest contemporary musicians of the ''manouche'' (

gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a style of small-group jazz originating from the Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–53), in conjunction with the French swing violinist Stéphane Gr ...

) tradition and has contributed to the genre through his knowledge of both jazz and classical music and his interest in the contrapuntal music of

J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Music career

Boulou Ferré was born in Paris and came from a family of musicians. His father,

Matelo Ferret Jean Pierre "Matelo" Ferret (1918 – 24 January 1989) (also spelled Matelot, Matlo and Matlow, surname also later spelled Ferré on occasion) was a French musette and gypsy jazz guitarist and composer. He was an associate of Django Reinhardt an ...

, and his uncle,

Baro Ferret Pierre Joseph "Baro" Ferret (1908–1976) was a gypsy jazz guitarist and composer. He was known by his gypsy nickname "Baro," which meant "Big One" or even "King" in Romany. Through his brother Jean "Matelo" Ferret, Baro met Django Reinhardt, a ...

, played with

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

in the

Quintet of the Hot Club of France The Quintette du Hot Club de France ("The Quintet of the Hot Club of France"), often abbreviated "QdHCdF" or "QHCF", was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli and active in one form ...

. His brother, Elios Ferré, is also a guitarist. By the age of seven, he was playing solos by saxophonist

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

on guitar. When he was eight, he gave his first concert, and when he was twelve he recorded his debut album. In 1962 Ferré enrolled at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, taking classes in piano,

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

, and organ, the latter under

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

. Messian was formative in Ferré's approach to

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

, and

, whose music has influenced his approach to composition. After the Conservatore, he became an organist at a Paris cathedral and developed his style of

jazz improvisation Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist inv ...

and composition. When he was 13, Ferré played with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

at the

Jazz à Juan Jazz à Juan is an annual jazz festival in Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France. New Orleans, Louisiana, widely recognized as the "Birthplace of Jazz," is a sister city, and as a result, carnival festivities in Juan-les-Pins, including both local and N ...

festival in Antibes. In 1966 he recorded the album ''Paris All-Stars'' with Michel Gaudry, Maurice Vander, and

Eddy Louiss Eddy Louiss (2 May 1941 – 30 June 2015) was a French jazz musician. Eddy started playing in his father Pierre's orchestra in the 1950s. Pierre changed the family name from Louise to Louiss. As a vocalist, he was a member of Les Double Six of ...

. In 1969 he gave a series of recitals at the Chat qui peche Jazz Club with saxophonist

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

, bassist Patrice Caratini, and drummer

Philly Joe Jones Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early career As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio station WIP. He was ...

. In the 1970s he recorded and played with Bob Reid,

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

, Steve Lacy,

Gunter Hampel Gunter Hampel (born 31 August 1937) is a German jazz vibraphonist, clarinettist, saxophonist, flautist, pianist, and composer. He became dedicated to free jazz in the 1960s, developing a record label (Birth Records) and working with Jeanne Lee, ...

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...

Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

Svend Asmussen Svend Asmussen (28 February 1916 – 7 February 2017) was a Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many of the other jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and S ...

, and

Louis Vola Louis Vola (La Seyne-sur-Mer, France, 6 July 1902 – 15 August 1990, Paris), was a French double-bassist known for his work with the Quintette du Hot Club de France. He is the godfather of guitarist Francois Vola. As well as the Hot Club de ...

. In 1974 Ferré formed the Corporation Gypsy Orchestra with Steve Potts,

Christian Escoudé Christian Escoudé (born 1947) is a French Gypsy jazz guitarist. He grew up in Angoulême and is of Romani descent on his father's side. His father was also a guitarist who was influenced by Django Reinhardt. When Escoudé was ten, his father b ...

, and pianist Takashi Kako. The group recorded for

SteepleChase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

in 1979. He formed Trio Gitan with Escoudé and

Babik Reinhardt Jean-Jacques "Babik" Reinhardt (8 June 1944 – 13 November 2001) was a French guitarist and the younger son of gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt by Django's second wife, Naguine. His elder half-brother Lousson, who was Django's son by his ...

and in 1988 with Philippe Combelle. He formed a duo with his brother Elio in 1978 under the name Ferré instead of Ferret. On 10 April 2012, Boulou was made

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

by Frédéric Mitterrand, French Minister of Culture. In 2015, Boulou Ferré, Elios Ferré and Christophe Astolfi recorded the album ''La Bande des trois'' (When jazz meets French song), released in September 2015 by Label Ouest (L'Autre distribution ).

Jean-Pierre Thiollet Jean-Pierre Thiollet (; born 9 December 1956) is a French writer and journalist. Primarily living in Paris, he is the author of numerous books and one of the national leaders of the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CEDI), a ...

, ''Improvisation so piano'', Neva Editions, 2017, p. 136.

Discography

* ''The 13 Year Old Sensation from France'' (4 Corners of the World, 1965) * ''Boulou et Les Paris All Stars'' (Barclay, 1966) * ''Espace'' with

(Birth, 1970) * ''Pour Django'' with Elios Ferré (SteepleChase, 1979) * ''Gypsy Dreams'' with Elios Ferré (SteepleChase, 1980) * ''Trinity'' with

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (, 27 May 1946 – 19 April 2005), also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Biography Pedersen was born in Osted, near Roskilde, on the Danish island of Zealand, the son of ...

, Elios Ferre (SteepleChase, 1983) * ''Three of a Kind'' with Christian Escoude,

(JMS, 1985) * ''Nuages'' with Elios Ferre,

Jesper Lundgaard Jesper Lundgaard (born 12 June 1954) is a Danish jazz bassist, bandleader, composer and record producer. Since his debut in the mid-1970s, he has been among the most prominent bassists in Danish jazz and as a sideman he has appeared on more tha ...

(SteepleChase, 1986) * ''Relax and Enjoy'' (SteepleChase, 1987) * ''Confirmation'' (SteepleChase, 1989) * ''Guitar Legacy'' (SteepleChase, 1991) * ''New York, New York'' (SteepleChase, 1997) * ''Intersection'' with Elios Ferré, Alain Jean-Marie (La Lichere, 2002) * ''The Rainbow of Life'' (Bee Jazz, 2003) * ''Shades of a Dream'' (Bee Jazz, 2004) * ''Parisian Passion'' (Bee Jazz, 2005) * ''Live in Montpellier'' with Elios Ferre (Le Chant Du Monde, 2007) * ''Brothers to Brothers'' with Elios Ferre (Plus Loin, 2008) * ''Django 100'' (JMS, 2009) * ''Solo'' (JMS, 2013) * ''La Bande Des Trois'' with Elios Ferre (Label Ouest, 2015)

References

External links

Musical biography of Boulou Ferré at Djangostation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferre, Boulou Living people 1951 births 20th-century guitarists 21st-century guitarists French jazz guitarists French male guitarists Gypsy jazz guitarists French composers Musicians from Paris 20th-century French male musicians 21st-century French male musicians French male jazz musicians