User:Saxmercier/sandbox

Stéphane Mercier
Stéphane Mercier (born June 6, 1970) is a Belgian alto saxophone and flute player. He has released four studio albums: B.Connection-Don't Butt in Line, Flor de Luna, Safe and Sound in Long Island City and Walking the Soul Map. Critics have called him both modern and traditional, comparing his sound and style as a mix between Lee Konitz and Steve Coleman, with an edge of Eric Dolphy.

Early life
Mercier was born in Brussels, third child of Jacques Mercier, radio and tv speaker and Christine Detry (1944-1990) and was inspired to become a musician thanks to the many exposures he had seeing live music and hanging out in recording studios early on with his father. Soon his mother took him to music lessons (classical percussion, saxophone, solfege, chamber music, etc...) and looked after his musical well-being. He was constantly surrounded by French chanson, brasilian, english pop, classical and jazz. As a teenager, he soon formed the band Sri Lanka with Christophe, his older brother, in which he started as a drummer but ended up as a singer-songwriter. In parallel, he would attend classical contests and was serious about music. He would often go alone to jazz concerts, as nobody around him was really sharing his passion. After graduating from high school in 1988, Mercier goes to the Jazz Studio, a private jazz school in Antwerp, then to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in 1990, year of his mother's death from cancer. After two difficult years, he moved to Boston, USA to attend Berklee College of Music, following the advice of his stepmother who was a public relation in a flemish record company.

Career
 1992 to 1995  Mercier started his career as a Berklee student, collecting awards, record deals and international tours. He formed the band B.Connection as early as 1992 and was soon produced by Dan Lacksman, a Grammy Award producer recipient, and had the opportunity to start a network, playing with future stars such as Matt Penman, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Antonio Sánchez,...and learned with the best teachers at the time: Ed Tomassi, Hal Crook, George Garzone, Joe Viola or Bill Pierce.

1995 to 2002 After graduating from Berklee, Mercier toured and recorded with many bands throughout Europe and the USA: Interplay Collective (avant-garde big band), Exile Society featuring Triple XXX (live hip-hop), Pierre Lognay International Edition featuring Mark Turner (modern jazz), B-Connection featuring Seamus Blake. He soon moved to New-York with a journalist visa, but had to work as a waiter to settle down. There he joined the Magali Souriau Orchestra and recorded live for the Birdland first label: Birdland Sessions. The band featured top players such as Jeff Ballard, Aaron Goldberg, Miguel Zenon, Chris Cheek, Dennis Irwin,...He was soon discovered by one of the top indie label of the time: Fresh Sound, and recorded Flor de Luna in 2000. Playing samba at SOB's on Saturday evenings and jewish wedding gigs, Mercier lived several years in NYC without moving too much but decided to move back to Europe after September 11th 2001, when he saw the twin towers collapsing from the window of his Brooklyn apartment. For as much as seven last months there, he moved in a musician apartment in the Queens where he recorded a last album with his roommates: Safe and Sound in Long Island City. Meanwhile he kept playing with several bands in venues such as the C Note, Izzy Bar, the Knitting Factory, the Jazz Standard, Birdland, CBGB,...

2002 to 2004 Following a proposal from a theatre, Stéphane moved to the 18th district in Paris, close to Montmartre and enjoyed the city, as a rest from the struggling years of NYC. Mercier continued to practice his instruments, full of precious informations, but soon started to mingle with the Parisian scene. He met then Mauro Gargano, Francesco Bearzatti, Mederic Collignon and went on playing with peers he met in the USA: Vincent Bourgeyx, Chester Harlan, Thomas Gromaire, Philippe Thomas, Maxime Lensens,...

2004 to 2013 Mercier came back to Brussels after twelve years of absence to raise his family. Maël (2004) and Matis (2005) were born in Braine-l'Alleud, in the very same hospital where his mother passed away fourteen years earlier. He then taught exactly where he started learning jazz from 1988: at the Jazz Studio in Antwerp, then at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. His encounter with the legendary Belgian pianist Charles Loos led to the recording of his fourth album: Walking the Soul Map. He started a new big band: the Jazz Station Big Band under the leading of Michel Paré, house band of the Jazz Station, a famous Brussels jazz club. He also did some writing for radio and television (RTBF). Becoming an active performer, composer and arranger, Mercier had to quit teaching little by little, as his career would take off in Europe.

Style
Coming from an alto saxophone tradition such as Johnny Hodges or Benny Carter, his first modern shock was Steve Coleman, but he discovered Jackie McLean and listened to all his record before hearing Kenny Garrett, who he met in the streets of Boston in 1993. His last and definite alto influence is Lee Konitz. Mark Turner, with whom he played much in the late 90's helped him to discover Warne Marsh and Lennie Tristano. Mercier's style has been described by Mike Zwerin as "kind of like Lee Konitz with an edge of Dolphy" and by Asim Memon as "an emerging innovator in comtemporary jazz".

Awards

 * Citizen Jazz, Paris, France: Mo’Avast Band wins Elu Citizen Jazz, 2012
 * Jazz Magazine, Paris, France: Mo’ Avast Band wins Revelation! 2011
 * Midem Cannes: best jazz band “Magalon-Hermans-Mercier” 2007
 * the album “Flor de Luna” proclaimed best jazz album of the year by the first Belgian newspaper: Le Soir, 2001

Discography

 * B.Connection: "Don't butt in Line" 1995
 * Stéphane Mercier: "Flor de Luna" 2000
 * Stéphane Mercier: "Safe and Sound in Long Island City" 2002
 * Stéphane Mercier: "Walking the Soul Map" 2009