Alto sax, free jazz, improv music, avant-garde…

…François Carrier was recently selected in the Annual International Critic’s Poll El Intruso 2018, 2017 and 2015. He was also selected in the DownBeat’s Reader Poll 2013 in the Best Alto Sax Players Lists.

So far, François has released 35 albums on labels such as Justin-Time Records, Spool Records, Leo Records (UK), FMR Records (UK), Ayler Records (France), Naxos Jazz, 482 Music (NY, USA), Not Two (Poland). and NoBusiness (Lithuania).

In 2001 he was awarded the Juno Award for “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” for his album Compassion on Naxos Jazz.

Recordings and concerts

He has played and recorded with jazz, improv music, free jazz and avant-garde musicians such as Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, Bobo Stenson, Tomasz Stanko, Uri Caine, Jason Moran, Dewey Redman, Mat Maneri, Sonny Greenwich, Jean-Jacques Avenel, John Edwards, Rafal Mazur and many others. He has been a long time collaborator with drummer Michel Lambert. Together, Michel and François have toured numerously in Europe, Asia and Canada. He has participated in many jazz festivals around the world, including the “Festival de Jazz de Montreux”, Jazz à Vienne in France, North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazzmandu Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, to name a few. François stayed six months at the Quebec Studio in Rome in 2002 and six months at the Quebec Studio in London UK in 2011 where he composed and develop more exiting projects.

Nota Bene :

His recently released album Unwalled on the Polish label Fundacja Słuchaj is receiving several rave reviews. During its 2022 tour the trio composed of François Carrier, John Edwards and Michel Lambert presented a memorable concert at JazzAhead in Bremen, Germany.