Famous jazz guitarist Christian Escoudé died of cancer at 76

Born in September 1947 in Angoulême, Christian Escoudé is one of the rare jazz guitarists who won the Django Reinhardt prize from the Jazz Academy in 1975.

The great jazz guitarist Christian Escoudé died of cancer at the age of 76, Monday May 13, 2024, near Angoulême, his hometown. “He died this Monday morning in Charente”, declared one of the press officers in charge of his last concerts. “He died this morning of cancer at the age of 76, his son told us,” specified Max Robin, artistic director of the specialized label Label Ouest which produced his last album, Anchoring. He described a “great musician and composer” became, over time, “a friend”someone“inspiring both by what he composed and his full commitment to his music”, an “improviser and man of the stage”.

This combination of talents has allowed him to make a name for himself both in the world of gypsy jazz and in that of contemporary jazz with musicians such as the French jazz pianist, composer and conductor Martial Solal or Daniel Humair, drummer, composer and Swiss painter.

“An intuitive musician with this poetry at his fingertips”, reacted François Lacharme, former president of the Jazz Academy and one of the programmers of the radio show “Club Jazzafip”. “A child of the ball, as they say, who was given a guitar in his hands and who made it his profession at a very young age, playing in dances, locally, before going to Paris”, he added, emphasizing his ability to “innovate with French string swing” and his “also interested in chamber music”.

Born in September 1947 in Angoulême to a gypsy father, a guitarist who was a fan of Django Reinhardt, and a mother from Charente, Christian Escoudé is one of the rare jazz guitarists who won the Django Reinhardt prize from the Jazz Academy in 1975. It was an international duo tour with John McLaughlin, British world guitar star, which launched his career in the early 1980s, bringing him to prominence. “of a musician highly esteemed by his peers, but performing mainly in clubs, at much larger venues and to a much wider audience”, according to Max Robin.

He then distinguished himself, in 1983, in the trio he formed with the French violinist Didier Lockwood and the Belgian jazz guitarist Philip Catherine. Then, from 1985, in the Trio Gitan with Babik Reinhardt, son of Django Reinhardt, and the French gypsy jazz guitarist Boulou Ferré (the formation has seen other musicians pass over time).

He joined the jazz department of the major record company Universal, multiplying tours, albums and concerts. Crowned with a Jazz Victory of Honor in 2022 for his entire career, Christian Escoudé brought together a brand new quintet, mixing styles and generations.

Influenced by his writing masters (Gil Evans, Claus Ogerman, Antonio Carlos Jobim…), a fine melodist who had given new colors to Brassens, he celebrated with Anchoring a double return to his sources, that of his native land and his loyalty to the music that nourished him (be-bop, west coast jazz, French song…).