Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz".

Early life

Portal was born in Bayonne on 27 November 1935. His family was musical and there were several instruments in his house when he was growing up. His interest in jazz began after hearing it on the radio after World War II. He studied clarinet 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 ...

and conducting with

Pierre Dervaux Pierre Dervaux (born 3 January 1917 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; died 20 February 1992 in Marseilles, France) was a French operatic conductor, composer, and pedagogue. At the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied counterpoint and harmony with Marcel ...

Later life and career

Portal "gained experience in light music with the bandleaders Henri Rossotti and (in Spain in 1958) Perez Prado, as well as with the drummer Benny Bennett (1960), Raymond Fonsèque (1963),

Aimé Barelli Aimé Barelli (1 March 1917 Lantosque, France – 13 July 1995 Monaco) was a French jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and band leader. At the beginning of the 1940s Barelli moved to Paris, where he worked with Fred Adison, Alix Combelle, André Ekyan, ...

, and, for many years, the singer

Claude Nougaro Claude Nougaro (, oc, Claudi Nogaròu; 9 September 1929 – 4 March 2004) was a French songwriter and singer. Life and career Claude Nougaro was born in Toulouse to a respected French opera singer, Pierre Nougaro, and a piano teacher, Liette ...

". Portal co-founded the

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

group New Phonic Art. During 1969, Portal played on a recording of

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...

's '' Aus den sieben Tagen''. Portal began scoring music for films in the 1980s. He has won the

César Award for Best Music Written for a Film Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * Ces ...

three times.

Discography

As leader

* ''Our Meanings and Our Feelings'' (Pathe, 1969) * ''Alors!!!'' (Futura, 1970) * ''Splendid Yzlment'' (CBS, 1972) * ''A Chateauvallon: No, No But It May Be'' (Le Chant Du Monde, 1973) * ''Sonates Pour Clarinette et Piano, Op. 120'' (Harmonia Mundi, 1977) * ''Dejarme Solo!'' (Cy, 1979) * ''Arrivederci Le Chouartse'' (Hat Hut, 1981) * ''L'ombre Rouge'' (Saravah, 1981) * ''Men's Land'' (Label Bleu, 1987) * ''Turbulence'' (Harmonia Mundi, 1987) * ''Concerto Pour Clarinette'' (Harmonia Mundi, 1989) * ''Any Way'' (Label Bleu, 1993) * ''Musiques De Cinemas'' (Label Bleu, 1995) * ''Dockings'' (Label Bleu, 1998) * ''Rencontre Duos Pour Clarinette'' (EMI, 1998) * ''Fast Mood'' (BMG, 1999) * ''Burundi'' (PAO, 2000) * ''Minneapolis'' (Universal, 2000) * ''Minneapolis We Insist!'' (Universal, 2002) * ''Concerts'' (Dreyfus, 2004) * ''Birdwatcher'' (Sunnyside, 2007) * ''Bailador'' (Classics, 2010) * ''Radar'' (Intuition, 2016) * ''Eternal Stories'' (Erato, 2017) * ''MP85'' (Label Bleu, 2021)

As sideman

With Barbara * ''Barbara No. 2'' (Philips, 1965) * ''Le Soleil Noir'' (Philips, 1968) * ''Barbara Chante Barbara'' (Philips, 1978) * ''L'aigle Noir'' (Philips, 1981) With Richard Galliano * ''Laurita'' (Dreyfus, 1995) * ''Blow Up'' (Dreyfus, 1997) * ''French Touch'' (Dreyfus, 1998) * ''Concerts Inedits'' (Dreyfus, 1999) With

Laurent Korcia Laurent Korcia (born 1964) is a French violinist who studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. After receiving a Premier Prix from the Conservatoire, he won the Paganini Competition in Genoa, a Grand Prix at the Jacques ...

* ''Danses'' (Naive, 2004) * ''Doubles Jeux'' (Naive, 2006) * ''Laurent Korcia'' (Naive, 2008) With others * Susanne Abbuehl, ''Compass'' (ECM, 2006) *

Jean-Louis Agobet Jean-Louis Agobet (born 21 April 1968) is a French composer. Agobet was born in Blois Loir-et-Cher. He studied with Philippe Manoury at the Conservatoire de Lyon. Following a residence at the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg conductor Fra ...

, ''Generation Feuermann Ritratto Concertante Phonal'' (Timpani, 2005) *

Gilbert Amy Gilbert Amy (born 29 August 1936) is a French composer and conductor. Career Born in Paris, Amy entered the Conservatoire de Paris in 1954, where he was taught and influenced by Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud and studied piano with Yvonne Lo ...

, ''Shin Anim Sha Ananim'' (Erato, 1987) *

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

, ''Musique Vivant Laborintus 2 Per Voci, Strumenti E Registrazione'' (Arcophon, 1969) *

Michel Beroff Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

, ''The Five Piano Concertos/Overture On Hebrew Themes'' (EMI, 1988) *

Claude Bolling Claude Bolling (10 April 1930 – 29 December 2020) was a French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor. Biography He was born in Cannes, France, and studied at the Nice Conservatory, and then in Paris. A child prodigy, by the ...

, ''Jazzgang Amadeus Mozart'' (Philips, 1965) * Pierre Boulez, ''Musique Vivante, Diego Masson Domaines'' (Harmonia Mundi, 1971) *

Michel Colombier Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor. Career Colombier wrote the scores of several motion pictures and TV productions. He also wrote chamber music and ballets. With composer Pierre H ...

, ''Wings'' (A&M, 1971) * Thomas Dutronc, ''Frenchy'' (Blue Note, 2020) * Serge Gainsbourg, ''Gainsbourg Percussions'' (Philips, 1964) *

Jef Gilson Jean-François Quiévreux (25 July 1926 – 5 February 2012), better known as Jef Gilson, was a French clarinetist, pianist, arranger, vocalist, composer and big band leader. "In the occupation of which he initiated groups" proved Gilson "an ex ...

, ''Enfin!'' (L'Echiquier, 1964) * Jef Gilson, ''Jef Gilson a Gaveau'' (SFP, 1965) * Michel Hausser, ''Holiday for Vibes and Cembalet'' (Columbia, 1964) * Antoine Herve, ''Road Movie'' (Nocturne, 2006) * Andre Hodeir, ''Anna Livia Plurabelle'' (Philips, 1966) * Daniel Humair, ''9–11 pm Town Hall'' (Label Bleu, 1988) * Daniel Humair, ''Quatre Fois Trois'' (Label Bleu, 1997) *

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer. Biography Kagel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family that had fled from Russia in the 1920s . He studied music, his ...

, ''Exotica'' (Deutsche Grammophon, 1972) *

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

& Piazzolla, ''Hommage a Piazzolla'' (Nonesuch, 1996) * Sylvain Luc, ''Joko'' (Dreyfus, 2006) *

Pierre Michelot Pierre Michelot (3 March 1928 – 3 July 2005) was a French jazz double bass player and arranger. Early life Michelot was born in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris on 3 March 1928. He studied piano from 1936 until 1938. He switched to playin ...

, ''Round About A Bass'' (Mercury, 1963) *

Ibrahim Maalouf Ibrahim Maalouf ( ar, ابراهيم معلوف, ; born 5 November 1980 in Beirut) is a French-Lebanese trumpeter, producer, arranger, and composer. In 2022, he became the first Lebanese instrumentalist nominated at the Grammy Awards for his albu ...

, ''10 Ans de Live!'' (Mi'ster, 2016) * Sunny Murray, ''Sunny Murray'' (Shandar, 1971) *

, ''Claude Nougaro'' (Philips, 1966) * Bernard Parmegiani, ''Pop'eclectic'' (Plate Lunch, 1999) * Vincent Peirani, ''Thrill Box'' (ACT, 2013) *

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz violinist and composer. Early life Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano. At sixteen, he was admitt ...

, ''Jazz Long Playing'' (Philips, 1964) * Jean Luc Ponty, ''La Sorcellerie a Travers Les Ages/Gravenstein'' (Communication, 1977) * Francis Poulenc, ''Sonatas'' (EMI, 1973) *

Raimon Ramon Pelegero Sanchis, who takes the stage name of Raimon (), is a Spanish singer. He performs in the musical style of Nova Cançó, and in the Catalan language. Biography Youth Raimon was born in Xàtiva in the province of Valencia, Spain o ...

, ''Raimon'' (Fonomusic 1992) * Raimon, ''T'Adones Amic...?'' (Le Chant Du Monde, 1974) * Pascal Roge, ''Chamber Music'' (Decca, 1989) * Aldo Romano, ''Il Piacere'' (Owl, 1979) *

Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an United States of America, American free jazz double bassist and Keyboard instrument, keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azores, Azorean/Portug ...

, ''

Seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

'' (BYG, 1971) *

Jacky Terrasson Jacky Terrasson (born November 27, 1965) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Background Terrasson's mother is African-American from Georgia, and his father is French. From his parents he heard classical music as a child. He began piano lesson ...

, ''Gouache'' (Universal, 2012) *

Henri Texier Henri Texier (born 27 January 1945) is a French jazz double bassist. At the age of sixteen, fascinated by the double bass, Texier became a self-taught bassist, crediting Wilbur Ware most as an influence. He formed his first group with Georges ...

, ''An Indian's Week'' (Label Bleu, 1993) * Francois Tusques, ''Free Jazz'' (Mouloudji, 1965) *

Vienna Art Orchestra The Vienna Art Orchestra was a European jazz group based in Vienna, Austria. Organized at different times as either a big band or as a smaller combo, it was regarded as one of the leading European jazz ensembles and was an official cultural ambas ...

, ''All That Strauss'' (TCB, 2000) *

Miroslav Vitous Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic S ...

, ''Remembering Weather Report'' (ECM, 2009)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Portal, Michel 1935 births Living people People from Bayonne 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century French male musicians 21st-century saxophonists Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Conservatoire de Bordeaux alumni Conservatoire de Paris alumni Free improvising musicians French classical clarinetists French film score composers French jazz clarinetists French jazz saxophonists French multi-instrumentalists French male film score composers French male jazz musicians Male saxophonists Label Bleu artists