Versailles yesterday witnessed the death of Martial Solal, an epic figure in French jazz and film.
A Jewish pianist from Algiers, he mingled in 1950s Paris with Django Reinhardt and Sydney Bechet, forming his own quartet. He began composing for film, most famously for Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 debut, À bout de souffle.
Solal came to be regarded as the intello of French jazz, his reputation esoteric but cherished.
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