Sylvain Rifflet
(Website)
French musician living in Paris, my main instruments are tenor saxophone and clarinet.
I also play flutes and toy instruments such as music box, toy piano, metalophone and any others when needed.
Graduted from Paris conservatory I’ve played in many french and european big-bands :
Le Gros Cube (Alban Darche), Le Sacre du Tympan (Fred Pallem), Pandemonium (F.Jeanneau) etc …
As a sideman I performed with musicians such as Riccardo Del Fra, Michel Portal,
Aldo Romano, Kenny Wheeler, Didier Levallet, Joey Baron, Hermeto Pascoual and many others…
Between 2002 and 2011 I lead french band called Rockingchair, the group I founded with trumpettist Airelle Besson.
In 2007, we received a “Django d’or” and several other awards for our first album.
The second album of the band called “1:1” was released in 2010 on german label Enja.
In 2008, I composed played and recorded the original soundtrack for the french movie called “Dernier Maquis” and recveived the “best original soundtrack price” from the international film festival in Dubaï.
I also wrote music for Arthur Rifflet’s documentaries “Sin maïs no hay pa ïs” and “La grippe du laisser-faire”.
My actual groups are Alphabet (a quartet with mixed influences) and Beaux-arts (a program for trio and string quartet).
Albums
Alphabet
Label: Sylvain Rifflet
Release date: April 26, 2012
On this second album, Rifflet mixes influences, from Tom Waits’ use of junk percussive instruments and Captain Beefheart’s anarchistic sound collages to the sound designs of film composer Cliff Martinez (known for his soundtracks for the films of director Steven Soderbergh), and a shows a deep knowledge of the work of minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass.
The composed parts, all by Rifflet, melt organically into the improvisations and tough the compositions conceptual titles sound cerebral the music is playful, full of imagination and emotional.
Beaux-Arts
Label: Sans Bruit
Release date: February 14, 2012
After several years playing with Rockingchair («1:1»/ENJA-2010) saxophonist, clarinettist and composer Sylvain Rifflet now presents his first solo project. An unusual, variable arrangement for trio with guitar and string quartet. «Beaux-arts» is a free exploration of the relationships between music and the other arts at the crossroads between jazz, rock and contemporary music.
