Joëlle Léandre (born 12 September 1951) is a French

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

ist, vocalist, and composer active in new music and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

. In the field of

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

, she has performed with

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

's Ensemble InterContemporain, and worked with

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

and

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

. Both Cage and Giacinto Scelsi have composed works specifically for her. She gave a solo concert at Jazz em Agosto in 2007 (

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

). At this same jazz festival, Léandre also performed in the Quartet Noir, a quartet which rarely performed live, with Marilyn Crispell, Urs Leimgruber and Fritz Hauser. She has also collaborated with musicians in the fields of jazz and improvised music, including Derek Bailey,

Barre Phillips Barre Phillips (October 27, 1934 – December 28, 2024) was an American jazz double bass, bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. From 1972 he was based in southern France, where in ...

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

, George E. Lewis, India Cooke, Evan Parker,

Irène Schweizer Irène Schweizer (2 June 1941 – 16 July 2024) was a Swiss jazz and free improvising pianist. Life and career Schweizer was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on 2 June 1941. She performed and recorded numerous solo piano performances as well as ...

Steve Lacy Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, '' ...

Maggie Nicols Maggie Nicols (or Nichols, as she originally spelled her name as a performer) (born 24 February 1948), is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer. Early life and career Nicols was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, as M ...

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

, Vinny Golia, Carlos Zingaro,

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

, Susie Ibarra, J. D. Parran, Kevin Norton, Eric Watson, Ernst Reijseger, Akosh S. and Sylvie Courvoisier. In 1983 she became a member of the European Women Improvising Group (EWIG), which evolved from the Feminist Improvising Group, and in the early 1990s she co-founded the feminist improvising trio Les Diaboliques, with Schweizer and Nicols. In 2002 she was resident professor of music at Mills College in California.

Discography

* 1981 ''Contrabassiste'' (QCA Redmark-Liben) * 1981–1982 ''Instant Replay'' with Lol Coxhill (Nato) * 1982 ''Live at The Bastille'' with

and Lindsay Cooper (Sync Pulse) * 1982 ''28 rue Dunois juillet 1982'' with Derek Bailey, George Lewis, Evan Parker (Fou) * 1983 ''Couscous'' with Lol Coxhill (Nato) * 1983 ''Les Douze sons'' (Nato) * 1983 ''Trios'' (

Incus The ''incus'' (: incudes) or anvil in the ear is one of three small bones (ossicles) in the middle ear. The incus receives vibrations from the malleus, to which it is connected laterally, and transmits these to the stapes medially. The incus i ...

) * 1984 '' Live at Taktlos'' with

and Paul Lovens ( Intakt) * 1984 ''Sweet Zee'', Daunik Lazro (Hat Art) * 1984 ''Pour un demi-poulet'' (Nato) * 1985–1987 ''Paris Quartet'' (Intakt) * 1985 ''Sincerely'' ( Plainisphare) * 1986 ''Canaille'' (Intakt) * 1986 ''Cordial gratin'' with Irène Schweizer ( FMP) * 1986 ''Frerebet'' with Peter Kowald (FMP) * 1986 ''Soeurbet'' with Peter Kowald (FMP) * 1986–1988 '' The Storming of the Winter Palace'' (Intakt) * 1987 ''Contrabasse et voix'' (ADDA) * 1987 '' Les domestiques'' with

Jon Rose Jonathan Anthony Rose (born 19 February 1951) is an Australian violinist, cellist, composer, and multimedia artist. Rose's work is centered in the experimental music known as free improvisation, where he has created large environmental multimed ...

( Konnex) * 1987 ''Violin Music for Restaurants'' with Jon Rose (ReR) * 1988 Anthony Braxton Group, '' Ensemble (Victoriaville)'' (Victo) * 1988 ''En Chair et en os'', on the poems of Julien Blaine (DCC) * 1990 ''Écritures'', with Carlos Zingaro (In Situ) * 1990 ''Trend'', avec Mario Schiano, Evan Parker, Alex Von Schlippenbach and Paul Lytton (Splasc (h)) * 1990 ''Urban Bass'' (EDD) * 1991 ''Palimpseste'' with Eric Watson (Hat Art) * 1991 ''Canaille 91'') * 1992 ''Haunting the Spirits Inside Them'' ( Music & Arts) * 1992 ''Okanagon'', compositions of Giacinto Scelsi (Hat Art) * 1992 ''L'Histoire de Tasco'', Canvas Trio (Hat Art) * 1992 ''Urgent Meeting 221'' (with Un Drame Musical Instantané) (GRRR) * 1992 ''Letter 3'', duo with Sainkho Namchylak ( Leo) * 1993 ''Les Diaboliques'' (Intakt) * 1993 ''Blue Goo Park'', duo with Rüdiger Carl (FMP) * 1993 ''Nuage en voyage'', duo with Annick Nozati (Zoo) * 1993 ''Tracks'', with Mario Schiano and Peter Kowald (Le Parc Music) * 1994 ''Sound on Stage Part 1'', with Carlos Zingaro (Musicworks) * 1994 ''Sincerely'' (Plainisphare) * 1994 ''Joëlle Léandre – Pascal Contet'' (Grave) * 1994 ''Blue Memories'', with Mario Schiano and Renato Geremia (Splasc (h)) * 1994

, ''://shoppinglive@victo'' (ReR) * 1994 Les Diaboliques, '' Splitting Image'' (Intakt, 1997) * 1994–1995 ''No Comment'' (Red Toucan) * 1995 ''John Cage'' (Auvidis Montaigne) * 1995 ''Not Missing Drums Project'', with Urban Voices (Leo) * 1996 ''Live @ Banlieues Bleues'', with Georg Graewe and François Houle (Red Toucan) * 1996 ''18 Colors'', duo with Lauren Newton (Leo) * 1996 ''Duos 3–13, For 4 Ears'', duos with Fredy Studer * 1996 ''Moments'', Canvas Trio (Music & Arts) * 1996 ''No Try No Fail'', trio with Urs Leimgruber and Fritz Hauser ( Hatology) * 1998 ''Joëlle et Tetsu'', duo with Tetsu Saitoh (Omba) * 1997 Philippe Fénelon, ' (MFA) * 1997 ''Incandescences'', duo with Giorgio Occhipinti (Tonesetters) * 1997 ''No Waiting'', duo with Derek Bailey (Potlatch) * 1997 ''E'vero'', duo with Sebi Tramontana (Leo) * 1997 Les Diaboliques, ''Live at the Rhinefalls'' (Intakt) * 1997 Chantal Dumas, ''Le parfum des femmes'' (OHM/AVTR) * 1998 ''Contrabasses'', duo with William Parker (Leo) * 1998 ''Short Takes'', duo with Haruna Miyake (Egg Farm) * 1998 ''Improvisation & Performance'' (Mesostics) * 1998 ''Ryoanji: John Cage Concert in Hiroshima'' with Kumi Wakao (Mesostics) * 1998 ''Solo Bass'' (Mesostics) * 1998 ''Sapporo Duets'', duo with Ryoji Hojito (Tonesetters/Jazz Halo) * 1998 ''Quartet Noir'', with Urs Leimgruber, Marilyn Crispell and Fritz Hauser (Victo) * 1998–1999 Saadet Türköz, ''Marmara Sea'' (Intakt) * 1999 '' Joëlle Léandre Project'' (Leo) * 1999 ''Tricotage'', duo with Danielle P Roger ( Ambiances Magnétiques) * 1999 ''Organic – Mineral'', with

Kazue Sawai is a Japanese ''Koto (musical instrument), koto'' player noted for her performance of contemporary classical music and free improvisation. Early life Sawai was born in Kyoto in 1941, and began studying koto, at the age of eight, with Michio Miya ...

(In Situ) * 1994–2000 ''Amalgam (e): 10 ans de Red Toucan'' (Red Toucan) * 2000 ''Dire du dire'' (

Rectangle In Euclidean geometry, Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a Rectilinear polygon, rectilinear convex polygon or a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that a ...

) * 2000 ''Quelque part'' (Lithium) * 2000 ''C'est ça'', with Hasse Poulsen and François Houle (Red Toucan) * 2000 ''John Cage #4'', with Kumi Wakao (Mesostics) * 2000 ''Joëlle Léandre & Yu Wakao'' (Mesostics) * 2000 ''Signature: live at the Egg Farm'', duos with Masahiko Satoh and Yuji Takahashi (ReR) * 1994 Les Diaboliques, '' Splitting Image'' (Intakt, 1997) * 1994–1995 ''No Comment'' (Red Toucan) * 1995 ''John Cage'' (Auvidis Montaigne) * 1995 ''Not Missing Drums Project'', with Urban Voices (Leo) * 1996 ''Live @ Banlieues Bleues'', with Georg Graewe and François Houle (Red Toucan) * 1996 ''18 Colors'', duo with Lauren Newton (Leo) * 1996 ''Duos 3–13, For 4 Ears'', duos with Fredy Studer * 1996 ''Moments'', Canvas Trio (Music & Arts) * 1996 ''No Try No Fail'', trio with Urs Leimgruber and Fritz Hauser ( Hatology) * 1998 ''Joëlle et Tetsu'', duo with Tetsu Saitoh (Omba) * 1997 Philippe Fénelon, ' (MFA) * 1997 ''Incandescences'', duo with Giorgio Occhipinti (Tonesetters) * 1997 ''No Waiting'', duo with Derek Bailey (Potlatch) * 1997 ''E'vero'', duo with Sebi Tramontana (Leo) * 1997 Les Diaboliques, ''Live at the Rhinefalls'' (Intakt) * 1997 Chantal Dumas, ''Le parfum des femmes'' (OHM/AVTR) * 1998 ''Contrabasses'', duo with William Parker (Leo) * 1998 ''Short Takes'', duo with Haruna Miyake (Egg Farm) * 1998 ''Improvisation & Performance'' (Mesostics) * 1998 ''Ryoanji: John Cage Concert in Hiroshima'' with Kumi Wakao (Mesostics) * 1998 ''Solo Bass'' (Mesostics) * 1998 ''Sapporo Duets'', duo with Ryoji Hojito (Tonesetters/Jazz Halo) * 1998 ''Quartet Noir'', with Urs Leimgruber, Marilyn Crispell and Fritz Hauser (Victo) * 1998–1999 Saadet Türköz, ''Marmara Sea'' (Intakt) * 1999 '' Joëlle Léandre Project'' (Leo) * 1999 ''Tricotage'', duo with Danielle P Roger ( Ambiances Magnétiques) * 1999 ''Organic – Mineral'', with

(In Situ) * 1994–2000 ''Amalgam (e): 10 ans de Red Toucan'' (Red Toucan) * 2000 ''Dire du dire'' (

Roland Kirk Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

,''Duets 2'', avec Ramón López (Leo) * 2002 ''Ocean of Earth'', Kevin Norton, Joëlle Léandre, Tomas Ulrich (Barking Hoop) * 2002 ''Tempted to Smile'', Fred Frith, Joëlle Léandre, Jonathan Segel ( Spool) * 2002 ''No Day Rising'', Brett Larner, Joëlle Léandre, Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Spool) * 2002 ''The Space_Between'', Philip Gelb, Pauline Oliveras, Dana Reason, Joëlle Léandre (482 Music) * 2002 ''Evident'', duo avec Mark Nauseef (482 Music) * 2002 ''One More Time'', Steve Lac, Joëlle Léandre (Leo) * 2003 ''After You Gone'',

, Joëlle Léandre, William Parker, Tetsu Saitoh (Victo) * 2003 ''Györ'', duo with Akosh S (Reqords) * 2003 ''Sur une balançoire'', duo with Gianni Lenoci (Ambiances Magnétiques) * 2003–2004 ''Irène Schweizer un film de Gitta Gsell'' (Intakt DVD) * 2004 India Cooke, ''Firedance'' (Red Toucan) * 2004 Ramón López Flowers Trio, ''Flowers of Peace'' (Leo) * 2004 Quartet Noir, ''Lugano'' (Victo) * 2004 ''Cruxes'', Aurora Josephson, Joëlle Léandre, Damon Smith, Martin Blume (Balance Point Acoustics) * 2005 ''Concerto Grosso, Tonesetters'' (Jazz Halo) * 2005 ''Face It!'', duo with Lauren Newton (Leo) * 2005 ''At The Le Mans Jazz Festival'' (Leo) * 2005 ''Voyages'', duo with Masahiko Satoh (BJSP) * 2005 ''Open Waves Concert'', duo with Carlos Bechegas (Forward) * 2005 ''Freeway'', duo with Pascal Contet (Clean Feed) * 2005 ''25th NWM'', Ninth World Music (one piece on a compilation) * 2006 Les Diaboliques, ''Jubilee Concert'' (Intakt DVD) * 2006 ''Winter in New York'', duo with Kevin Norton (Leo) * 2006 ''9 moments'', Houle, Léandre, Strid (Red Toucan) * 2006 '' DMG @ The Stone Volume 1: December 22, 2006'', with The Stone Quartet (Léandre, Marilyn Crispell, Roy Campbell, Mat Maneri) (DMG) * 2006 ''À l'improviste'', Joëlle Léandre, Barre Phillips (Kadima Collective) * 2007 ''Psychomagic Combination'', Joëlle Léandre, Gianni Lenoci, Vittorino Curci, Marcello Magliocchi ( Setola di Maiale) * 2007 ''Duo (Heidelberg Loppem)'', duo with

(Leo) * 2007 ''Live in Israël'', solo and collective improvisations (Kadima Collective) * 2008 ''Trace'', Léandre, Vidal, Boni (Red Toucan) * 2008 ''Out of Nowhere'', duo with Quentin Sirjacq (Ambiances Magnétiques) * 2008 ''Basse Continue'', DVD with interviews and in concert (Hors Œl éditions) * 2008 ''KOR'', duo with Akosh S (Leo) * 2008 ''Transatlantic Visions'', duo with George Lewis ( RogueArt) * 2009 ''Live at Dunois'', duo with William Parker (Leo) * 2009 ''Live aux Instants Chavirés'', duo with Jean-Luc Cappozzo (Kadima Collective) * 2010 ''Before After'', trio with Nicole Mitchell and Dylan Van Der Schyff (RogueArt) * 2011 ''That Overt Desire Of Object'', duo with Phillip Greenlief (

Relative Pitch Relative pitch is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note by comparing it to a reference note and identifying the interval between those two notes. For example, if the notes ''Do'' and ''Fa'' are played on a piano, a ...

) * 2011 '' Live at Vision Festival'', with The Stone Quartet (Léandre, Marilyn Crispell, Roy Campbell, Mat Maneri) ( Ayler) * 2012 ''Trans'', en duo with Serge Teyssot-Gay (Intervalle Triton) * 2013 ''The Bill Has Been Paid'', en duo with Steve Dalachinsky (Dark Tree) * 2013 ''Trio Ceccaldi avec Joëlle Leandre'' (Ayler) * 2913 ''14 rue Paul Fort, Paris'' with Benoit Delbecq, François Houle (Leo) * 2014 ''Tout va monter'', trio with Benoît Delbecq and Carnage The Executioner (Nato) * 2014 ''Hasparren'' Daunik Lazro ( NoBusiness) * 2014 ''3'' with Pascal Contet (Ayler) * 2014 ''Sisters Where'' with Nicole Mitchell (RogueArt) * 2015 ''MMM Quartet'' with Fred Frith, Alvin Curran, Urs Leimgruber (RogueArt) * 2016 ''Joëlle Léandre 10'', ''Can You Hear Me?'', with Guillaume Aknine, Florent Stache, Jean-Brice Godet, Théo Ceccaldi (Ayler) * 2016 ''Unleashed'' Myra Melford, Nicole Mitchell (RogueArt)

References

External links

Profile at All About Jazz
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leandre, Joelle 1951 births Living people Classical double-bassists French feminists French women jazz musicians French jazz double-bassists Contemporary classical music performers Avant-garde jazz musicians 21st-century French double-bassists 21st-century French women musicians 21st-century French classical musicians 20th-century double-bassists 20th-century French women musicians 20th-century French classical musicians Musicians from Aix-en-Provence Clean Feed Records artists Leo Records artists FMP/Free Music Production artists RogueArt artists NoBusiness Records artists