French musician, composer, arranger

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After obtaining a degree in musicology and studying classical double bass,

Simon Mary began playing jazz. He has performed with Steve Potts,

Kenny Wheeler, Denis Leloup, Georges Arvanitas, Baptiste Trotignon,

Sara Lazarus, Alain Jean-Marie, Méderic Collignon, Daniel Givone among

many others.

In 1999 he founded Mukta, a pioneering world-jazz band in Europe,

with whom he recorded six albums on the Warner Jazz label, and

performed for twelve years all over the world. The group was nominated

twice for the prestigious Victoires de la Musique, the French equivalent

of the Grammy Awards.

His desire for new musical encounters and discoveries have led him to

play with musicians from traditional music, ranging from India to Brittany,

and from the Balkans to Korea (Biswajit Roy Chowdury, Loten  Namling,  

Didier Squiban, Ronan Robert, Mihai Trestian, Yom, E’Joung-Ju).

He has also worked in the worlds of theater (Enzo Corman, Théatre Nuit,

Skene Productions) storytelling and litterature (Praline Gay-Para,

Laurence Vilaine) as well as for cinema (Le nouveau monde,

directed by Alain Corneau).

He has performed and recorded with well-known French

singer-songwriters, such as Katerine, Miossec, Alexis Hk and Ignatus.

He has composed for his own bands, has written commissioned

pedagogical works, and has arranged for songwriters and traditional

musicians.

Fascinated by the interaction between music and images, he composes

music for both short films and institutional documentaries.

Having earned an advanced degree for teaching music (Diplôme d’Etat), he regularly runs workshops on arranging. He also directed improvisation workshops for three years at the Nantes national conservatory.

 

He has performed on stages around the world, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Jazz Yatra in Bombay, the Crystal Ballroom in Portland Oregon, les Eurockéennes, the Nice Jazz Festival, les Nuits de Fourvière, the New Morning and l'Olympia in Paris, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Casino de Paris, the Festival Interceltique de Lorient, the Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois, Transmusicales, the Francofolies in Montreal and in La Rochelle, the Printemps de Bourges and the Festival d'Eté in Quebec City.

 

He has recorded over 90 albums in various categories, including jazz, french songs, world music and soundtracks.

 

In 2018, with musicians from jazz, classical and world music, he created a new ensemble, «  Krystal Mundi», which blends written composition and improvisation.

His main influences range from French impressionists to repetitive music and from Jazz to Indian classical music.

(English translation : A.Arleo)