
Eric Legnini was born in Belgium in 1970. He passed a childhood immersed in Bach and Puccini. In the beginning of the 1980s, the discovery of an Erroll Garner album revealed an entirely new musical horizon, especially when it came to keyboards. With his exceptional ear for music, he tinkered with these strange harmonies seized on the fly and quickly fell under the spell of jazz—Eric had found his means of expression.
He first made his mark in the mid-1990s as the young, discreet but highly talented pianist of the Stefano Di Battista quartet. His piano was a perfect foil for the fiery and voluble alto saxophonist. His open, generous style springs directly from the dark heart of jazz : rich phrasing, refined and sensual, always marrying itself effortlessly to the melody and the vocal. An exceptional talent for swing, grounded in a rigor and sobriety in his rhythmic placing worthy of the great masters of the hard bop. It was not long before Legnini became the grounding element amongst the disparate temperaments of the Di Battista quartet, as well as one of the most requested sidemen of the Rue des Lombards set.
WAXX UP
In 2017, Eric Legnini comes back on stage as a leader : “Waxx Up”, released in March, and will conclude the trilogy he dedicated to the voices (which consists of The Vox in 2011 and Sing Twice in 2013). Alongside with his own trio (Franck Agulhon on drums, Daniel Romeo on electric bass), he invites a horn section and, of course, singers : Yael Naim, Charles X, Mathieu Boogaerts, Hugh Coltman, Natalie Williams, Anaëlle Potdevin and Michelle Willis.
THE VOX
At the beginning of 2011, Eric Legnini released the album “The Vox”, the press and the public were quite unanimous, a new story that lead to one of the greatest prize in France, ” Victoire de la Musique” for Best Instrumental Jazz Album.
SING TWICE
2013, the “Sing Twice!” album is released, which title sound like a good overview on Eric Legnini’s carrer. From “Miss Soul” (2005) to that album, we can take the measure of Eric’s reflections about his own music. This album sounds more like pop music than any other in his discography and is nominated to the Victoires du Jazz (French Grammy Awards) on the same year. Singers invited : the English gentlemen Hugh Coltman, Mali-born Mamani Keita, Japanese-American singer Emi Meyer.
Eric Legnini (Belgium) • keyboards, piano
Anaëlle Potdevin (Belgium) • vocals
Julien Herné (France) • bass
Franck Agulhon (France) • drums
DATES | PLACES | VENUES |
October 13 | Shanghai | Unico |
October 14 | Shanghai | JZ Festival |
October 15 | Tianjin | Grand Theater |
October 16 | Beijing | 9 Gates Jazz Festival CANCELLED |
October 17 | Harbin | Grand Theater |