The Lafayette Suite Laurent Coq

• 1 Comte de Broglie 06:03
• 2 Baron Johan De Kalb 05:24
• 3 Pasajes de San Juan 04:24
• 4 Charleston, South Carolina, June 13, 1777 03:42
• 5 Major Benjamin Huger 05:00
• 6 General George Washington 03:27
• 7 The Battle of Brandywine 08:38
• 8 Valley Forge 02:58
• 9 Comte de Rochambeau 05:55
• 10 Yorktown 04:00
• Total Runtime 49:31

Info for The Lafayette Suite

The Lafayette Suite is French piano player Laurent Coq’s new album, co-signed with American saxophonist Walter Smith III. It was recorded in New York in September 2014 with a quartet featuring Joe Sanders on acoustic and electric basses and drummer Damion Reid, two musicians Laurent is familiar with since they were already featured in his 2008 album Eight Fragments of Summer (88Trees). Damion was also the drummer on Laurent’s 2003 quartet record (Like a Tree in the City, Sunnyside/88Trees).

“If the French jazz scene is exciting today, it’s due in good part to piano player Laurent Coq” according to Télérama, which praises the pianist’s creativity, his striking originality as a composer, as well as the rigor and inspiration of his improvising. A sideman with saxophonists Julien Lourau and Pierrick Pedron or singer Elisabeth Kontomanou in the past, Laurent Coq co-lead the project “Rayuela” with alto player Miguel Zenon, and recorded several trio and quartet albums under his own name, garnering much praise from reviewers.

The Marquis de Lafayette was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought for the United States in the Revolutionary War. A close friend of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette was also a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789.

Jazz pianist Laurent Coq's Lafayette Suite is a musical portrayal of Lafayette's adventures and his commitment to his ideals of the Enlightenment. Joined by Walter Smith III, Joe Sanders and Damion Reid, Coq's suite is inspired and audacious jazz for the 21st century.

Laurent Coq, piano and compositions (on tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
Walter Smith III, saxophone and compositions (on tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10)
Joe Sanders, acoustic and electric basses
Damion Reid, drums

Recorded at Tedesco Studios, NJ, on September 1 & 2, 2014
Mixed and mastered at Avatar Studios, NY
Tracking, mixing and mastering by Katsuhiko Naito

Laurent Coq
is a French piano player and composer who has been very active during the past twenty five years on both sides of the Altantic. From his first New York stay in 1994 – thanks to a scholarship from the French Government he was able to take lessons from Mulgrew Miller, John Hicks and Bruce Barth — to the fruitful years he spent as a resident from 2000 to 2005 — Like a Tree in The City recorded in quartet with Jérôme Sabbagh in 2003, Spinnin’ in trio, Best Album of 2005 by the French Jazz Academy — and many more collaborations with major musicians of our time (Miguel Zenón, Walter Smith III), up to his last trio recording Kinship (2017 jazz&people/PIAS) recorded with two of the most in-demand musicians in New York, Laurent has managed to keep some strong connections with the Jazz Mecca.

And yet he has always conducted exciting projects in Paris where he now resides – Prix Charles Cros 2002 for the Blowing Trio, Dialogue trio with Ralph Lavital, his former student at EDIM, with whom he toured in Africa and the US — and collaborations with important France based musicians (Julien Lourau, Elisabeth Kontomanou, Sandro Zerafa).

With fifteen albums under his name or as a coleader and many music scores for theater and cinema, he has become an important jazz musician and composer of his generation.

On top of these activities, Laurent Coq has long been a devoted musical educator, leading several youth orchestras and masterclass across continents. Owner of a State Jazz Diploma, he currently teaches at EDIM since 2005, and at Pontault-Combault/Roissy en Brie and Torcy conservatories, near Paris, since 2015.

Booklet for The Lafayette Suite