Jacky Terrasson

Jacky Terrasson is a French jazz pianist and composer.

Background

Terrasson's mother is African-American from Georgia, and his father is French. From his parents he heard classical music as a child. He began piano lessons at an early age. He became interested in jazz when he heard his mother's albums of Miles Davis and Billie Holiday. Terrasson went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston for two semesters, then performed in clubs as a jazz pianist in Chicago and New York City. In 1993 he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. As the leader of a trio, Terrasson recorded his first solo album for Blue Note, then recorded with Jimmy Scott and Cassandra Wilson. He has worked with Stéphane Belmondo, Michael Brecker, Mino Cinélu, Ugonna Okegwo, Leon Parker, Michel Portal, Adam Rodgers, and Cécile McLorin Salvant. The Los Angeles Times heralds him as "a pianist with a shining improvisational imagination, Terrasson seems clearly determined to follow his own path."

With Cindy Blackman

With Ry Cooder

With Philippe Gaillot

With Javon Jackson

With others