Martial Solal
b. 23 August 1927, Algiers, Algeria. Solal was taught to play the piano from the age of seven by his opera singing mother. He worked with local bands in Algiers before moving to Paris in 1950. There he played with all the prominent French musicians as well as the visiting Americans—Don Byas, Lucky Thompson, Sidney Bechet. In 1968, he began a long association with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. He occasionally leads a big band. Solal has a prodigious technique at the piano and an extensive harmonic knowledge. He has often worked as a solo performer when he rarely plays in a constant tempo and his melodic improvisation can be at its most remote. He wrote the score for Jean-Luc Godard's film BREATHLESS (1959) and has since produced more than 20 film scores.