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Grand Six was born in 1999 in Bordeaux when six musicians with various backgrounds decided to get together in order to create the music they were hearing in their heads but were unable to find elsewhere.
This encounter was far from being random: they had already known each other for a long time, and had also played together in various combos. However, the choice of the composition of the band (trumpet, alto/soprano saxophone, french horn, guitar/banjo, double bass and drums) is actually quite random, since the actual musician was far more important than the instrument when the band was created. Grand Six is not a bunch of replaceable players, chosen for the sake of the instrument they happen to play, but a collection of unique individualities.
In the four years that followed, the band composed and arranged about fifty numbers. The music is uncompromisingly innovative and unique, but also appealing to a wider audience than only hard core jazz aficionados. The overall genre Grand Six belongs to is jazz, but that doesnt even begin to tell the whole story. The bands influences range from Carla Bley, Duke Ellington and Gil Evans, Mingus, Booker Little and Eric Dolphy to John Lurie and Tom Waits. One might also be tempted to add Kocani Orkestar, Ennio Morricone, Danny Elfman, and even François de Roubaix to this list.
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