Jacques Schwarz-Bart
Encyclopedia
Jacques Schwarz-Bart is a New York based jazz saxophonist. His mother is the Guadeloupe
an novelist Simone Schwarz-Bart, author of The Bridge of Beyond. His father was French Jewish author André Schwarz-Bart
. The two published a joint novel, Un plat de porc aux bananes vertes, in 1967. The family traveled widely, living in Senegal, Switzerland, and Goyave, Guadeloupe. Jacques Schwarz-Bart is dubbed "Brother Jacques" and his music has incorporated rhythm and blues
as well as hip hop
influences.http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist.aspx?ob=per&src=prd&aid=5827
His musical path is atypical. At age four, he was offered a Gwoka drum, and Anzala (one of the all time greats along with Velo and Carnot), showed him how to play the seven fundamental rhythms -Toumblak, Graj, Lewoz, Kalagya, Padjanbel, Mende, Woulé.
At age six, while living in Switzerland, he discovers Jazz music through his best friend’s dad record collection. Fascinated, he self teaches the guitar by playing along with records. By age eleven, he sat in with the players of the local Lausanne scene, but soon after, his family relocated in Guadeloupe. There, without a jazz scene, he concentrated on his studies, most notably at the prestigious School of Government called Sciences Po, and eventually landed a job as a Senator’s assistant in Paris. At twenty-four he appeared poised for a more conventional success, until by chance he tried a friend's tenor saxophone. He practiced between his long hours at the Senate, and three years later, he abandoned his nascent career to attend Berklee School of Music.
After a grueling practice schedule that spanned four years, he graduated from Berklee, and developed a reputation by playing with acknowledged leaders of the Boston jazz scene, such Danilo Perez, Bob Moses, Giovanni Hidalgo, before leaving for New York City. One week upon arriving there, goes to hear Chucho Valdes, Roy Hargrove and Randy Brecker perform at Bradlee’s Jazz Club. In a moment of boldness, he pulls out his horn, jumps on stage and joins in. One month later, he gets a call from Roy Hargrove to replace David Sanchez in his Latin Jazz band, Crisol. By early 2000, he earns his nickname, "Brother Jacques," from musician D'Angelo, in praise of Schwarz-Bart's musicianship. In addition to Hargrove and D'Angelo, Schwarz-Bart has done session work and performed live with Erykah Badu, Eric Benet, Meshell N’degeocello, James Hurt, Danilo Perez, Soulive, Ari Hoenig and David Gilmore, among others. His tune “Forget Regret” was the single on Roy Hargrove’s 2003 album Hard Groove.
Jacques Schwarz-Bart has produced several personal projects. After a straight ahead CD entitled Immersion, comes The Brother Jacques Project: a mixture of soul and jazz, with layers of Caribbean rhythms, featuring the vocalist Stephanie McKay.
With his 2007 album on Universal, Soné Ka-La,Jacques Schwarz-Bart is one of the first musicians to fully explore the connection between Gwoka and jazz, two musical styles of the African Diaspora.
The project features musicians such as Admiral T
and Jacob Desvarieux of Kassav'
.
It is his oldest project, and yet the one that took the longest to achieve.
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
an novelist Simone Schwarz-Bart, author of The Bridge of Beyond. His father was French Jewish author André Schwarz-Bart
Andre Schwarz-Bart
André Schwarz-Bart was a French novelist of Polish-Jewish origins....
. The two published a joint novel, Un plat de porc aux bananes vertes, in 1967. The family traveled widely, living in Senegal, Switzerland, and Goyave, Guadeloupe. Jacques Schwarz-Bart is dubbed "Brother Jacques" and his music has incorporated rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
as well as hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
influences.http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/artist.aspx?ob=per&src=prd&aid=5827
His musical path is atypical. At age four, he was offered a Gwoka drum, and Anzala (one of the all time greats along with Velo and Carnot), showed him how to play the seven fundamental rhythms -Toumblak, Graj, Lewoz, Kalagya, Padjanbel, Mende, Woulé.
At age six, while living in Switzerland, he discovers Jazz music through his best friend’s dad record collection. Fascinated, he self teaches the guitar by playing along with records. By age eleven, he sat in with the players of the local Lausanne scene, but soon after, his family relocated in Guadeloupe. There, without a jazz scene, he concentrated on his studies, most notably at the prestigious School of Government called Sciences Po, and eventually landed a job as a Senator’s assistant in Paris. At twenty-four he appeared poised for a more conventional success, until by chance he tried a friend's tenor saxophone. He practiced between his long hours at the Senate, and three years later, he abandoned his nascent career to attend Berklee School of Music.
After a grueling practice schedule that spanned four years, he graduated from Berklee, and developed a reputation by playing with acknowledged leaders of the Boston jazz scene, such Danilo Perez, Bob Moses, Giovanni Hidalgo, before leaving for New York City. One week upon arriving there, goes to hear Chucho Valdes, Roy Hargrove and Randy Brecker perform at Bradlee’s Jazz Club. In a moment of boldness, he pulls out his horn, jumps on stage and joins in. One month later, he gets a call from Roy Hargrove to replace David Sanchez in his Latin Jazz band, Crisol. By early 2000, he earns his nickname, "Brother Jacques," from musician D'Angelo, in praise of Schwarz-Bart's musicianship. In addition to Hargrove and D'Angelo, Schwarz-Bart has done session work and performed live with Erykah Badu, Eric Benet, Meshell N’degeocello, James Hurt, Danilo Perez, Soulive, Ari Hoenig and David Gilmore, among others. His tune “Forget Regret” was the single on Roy Hargrove’s 2003 album Hard Groove.
Jacques Schwarz-Bart has produced several personal projects. After a straight ahead CD entitled Immersion, comes The Brother Jacques Project: a mixture of soul and jazz, with layers of Caribbean rhythms, featuring the vocalist Stephanie McKay.
With his 2007 album on Universal, Soné Ka-La,Jacques Schwarz-Bart is one of the first musicians to fully explore the connection between Gwoka and jazz, two musical styles of the African Diaspora.
The project features musicians such as Admiral T
Admiral T
Admiral T, whose real name is Christy Campbell, is a French singer of reggae-dancehall music. Besides Francky Vincent, he is one of most popular and successful Guadeloupean singers.He is also a designer and the creator of WOK LINE.-Biography:...
and Jacob Desvarieux of Kassav'
Kassav'
Kassav' is a Francophone zouk band formed in Paris in 1979. The core members of the band are Jocelyne Béroard, Jacob Desvarieux, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur and Georges Décimus...
.
It is his oldest project, and yet the one that took the longest to achieve.