Francois Carrier

Alto and soprano saxophonist, composer and improviser François Carrier was awarded the Juno Award for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” in March 2001 for his Compassion album on Naxos Jazz. In his 30 years musical career François has played in numerous jazz festivals around the world, including the "Festival de Jazz de Montreux", the "Jazz à Vienne" in France, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Jazzmandu Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Vancouver Jazz Festival, to name a few. In 2002 François stayed six months in the Quebec Studio in Rome, where he composed new works and got acquainted with the Italian musical milieu. So far, François has released more than 19 CDs widely acclaimed from both sides of the Atlantic, as well as the Far East on labels such as Justin-Time Records, Spool Records, Leo Records (UK), Ayler Records (Sweden), Naxos Jazz, 482 Music (Chicago). He has played and recorded with jazz giants such as Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, Bobo Stenson, Tomasz Stanko, Uri Caine, Jason Moran, Dewey Redman, Mat Maneri, Sonny Greenwich, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Pierre Côté and has been a long time collaborator with drummer Michel Lambert. Together, Michel and François have toured in several occasions in Europe, Asia and Canada. In February 2008, the British label FMR Records has released the outstanding “Kathmandu” recorded live in Nepal in October 2006. In June 2008 Leo Records will release “Within”, Carrier's 11th album with his guests Michel Lambert and French bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel. Today, August 26th 2008, Ayler Records has just released a Digital Box Set of 7 live recordings showcasing different groups from Carrier. In March 2009 the portugese label Creative Sources Recordings released a beautiful studio recording duet album titled "Nada". In mid 2009 François plans to release an amazing live recording with guest pianist Bobo Stenson. European and Asian tours will take place in autumn 2009 as well as in 2010.