Lazuli are a French

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band, formed in Southern France in 1998 by Claude and Dominique Leonetti.

History

After their formation in 1998, their first album, the self-titled ''Lazuli'', was released in 1999 and struggled in popularity. However, over many years the band have changed and refined their sound finding increased popularity and appreciation. Their second album, ''Amnésie'', in 2004, helped Lazuli to sign with the Night & Day distribution group. On 2 and 3 July 2005, Lazuli attended the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

and received an award for "Under the sky".

Key dates

* 1999 : Concert at FIMU in

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territo ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) * 2004 : Second album "Amnésie" * 2 & 3 July 2005 :

(

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) * 11 March 2006 :

Baja Prog Baja Prog is an annual progressive rock festival in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the ...

Festival in

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000, ...

(

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

) * 12 April 2006 : Concert a
Colos-Saal
in Aschaffenburg (

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) * 5 August 2006 : KOMMZ-Festival in Aschaffenburg (Germany) * 12 August 2006: Concert in

Bergerac, Dordogne Bergerac (; ) is a subprefecture of the Dordogne department, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 26,823, which made it the department's second-most populated after the prefecture P ...

(France), invited by

Ange Ange (English: Angel) is a French progressive rock band formed in September 1969 by the Décamps brothers, Francis (keyboards) and Christian (vocals, accordion, acoustic guitar and keyboards). Since its inception the band's music has been inspi ...

. * 18 January 2007
Colos-Saal
à Aschaffenburg (Germany) * 2 May 2009 : Rites of Spring festival (

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) * 29 November 2009 : Lazuli announce split http://www.progforums.com/punforum/viewtopic.php?pid=1127#p1127 * 7 October 2011 : Headlined the Summers End festival in

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been bypassed by the A48 road since 1995 ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

* 2015 : Lazuli supported

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

on his entire "Farewell To Childhood" European tour in November and December 2015.

Musical style

Lazuli combine progressive rock with world and electro music. Besides guitar, keyboards and drums the band plays also léode,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

and

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

; until 2009, split

chapman stick The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines, ...

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

and

warr guitar The Warr Guitar is an American-made touch guitar, a type of instrument that combines both bass and melodic strings on a single fretboard. It is related to the Chapman Stick, another two-handed tapping instrument. The Warr guitar is designed for ...

were used as well. Claude Leonetti invented and plays the léode, because he cannot use his left arm after a motorcycle accident. Their lyrics are entirely in French.

Band members

;Current members *Claude Leonetti – léode (1998–present) *Dominique Leonetti – vocals, guitar (1998–present) *Arnaud Beyney – guitar, bass guitar (2020–present) *Vincent Barnavol – drums (2010–present) *Romain Thorel – keyboards (2010–present) ;Former members *Gédéric Byar – Guitar (2007–2020) *Fred Juan – marimba, percussion (1998–2009) *Sylvain Bayol – chapman stick, warr guitar (1998–2009) *Yohan Simeon – percussion (1998–2009)

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Lazuli'' (1999) * ''Amnésie'' (2004) * ''En avant doute...'' (2007) * ''Réponse incongrue à l'inéluctable'' (2009) * ''4603 battements'' (2011) * ''Tant que l'herbe est grasse'' (2014) * ''Nos âmes saoules'' (2016) * ''Saison 8'' (2018) * ''Le Fantastique Envol de Dieter Böhm'' (2020) * ''Dénudé'' (2021) * 11 (2023) ;Video albums * ''6 frenchmen in Amsterdam – Live at Paradiso'' DVD (2009) * ''Live @ l'Abeille Rôde'' DVD (2013) * ''Nos âmes saoules Live 2016'' DVD (2016)

References

External links

Official web site
{{Authority control French progressive rock groups Musea artists