Benoît Delbecq

Born in 1966, based in Bondy near Paris, pianist, composer, and producer Benoît Delbecq figures among the innovators of the international contemporary jazz scene. He has about forty discs as leader or in collectives, with a discography of more than 120 recordings. A former student of Mal Waldron and Muhal Richard Abrams among others, Benoît’s international career started around 1992 from Parisian cutting-edge club Les Instants Chavirés, in parallel to the founding of Kartet, The Recyclers, and the hyperactive Hask Collective, which helped revitalize the Paris creative music scene. Delbecq’s works include regular collaborations with Evan Parker, Mark Turner, Fred Hersch, Andy Milne, Ethan Iverson, Kris Davis, among many others. His latest solo album, The Weight of Light on Pyroclastic Records, was described as “a mysterious and moving artistic statement from a richly important voice in contemporary improvised music” (London Jazz News).

Illegal Crowns is a collective quartet that brings together the long-time collaborative trio of guitarist Mary Halvorson, drummer Tomas Fujiwara, and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, with the French pianist Benoît Delbecq. All four artists are critically recognized as leading figures in contemporary music, and have created multiple original compositions written specifically for this group. The band has recorded two albums (the self-titled debut album released in 2016, and The No-Nosed Puppet released in 2019, both on the RogueArt label) and has toured throughout Europe and Canada, and will be making its long overdue US debut with this tour.