Orchestre National de Jazz was created by French Ministry of Culture in 1986. In more than three decades, this institution has played a large part in the institutional and cultural legitimization of jazz, notably in offering a vast panorama of the French creation. The Orchestra has seen 12 successive musical and artistic directors, welcomed more than 200 soloists and invited numerous international artists, recorded 33 albums. Orchestre National de Jazz received many awards including Victoires du Jazz in 2009 and 2020 and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2012 for the album Shut Up And Dance composed by John Hollenbeck.
Members
ONJ François Jeanneau - 1986
François Jeanneau — soprano and tenor saxophones, musical direction
Éric Barret, Jean-Louis Chautemps, Richard Foy, Pierre-Olivier Govin, Bruno Rousselet — saxophones, clarinets, flutes, bassoon François Chassagnite, Michel Delakian, Christian Martinez, Éric Mula — trumpet, flugelhorn Jean-Louis Damant, Denis Leloup, Yves Robert — trombone Didier Havet — tuba Andy Emler — keyboards, synthesizers Denis Badault — piano, synthesizers François Verly — vibraphone, marimba, percussions Marc Ducret — electric guitar Michel Benita — double bass, electric bass Aaron Scott — drums
ONJ Antoine Hervé - 1987 to 1989
Antoine Hervé — piano, musical direction
Francis Bourrec, Gilbert Dall'anese, Laurent Dehors, Pierre-Olivier Govin, Alain Hatot, Jean-Pierre Solves —saxophones Michel Delakian, Antoine Illouz, Christian Martinez, Philippe Slominski — trumpet, flugelhorn Jacques Bolognesi, Bernard Camoin, Glenn Ferris, Denis Leloup, Gilles Salommez — trombone Patrice Petitdidier — french horn Didier Havet — tuba Philippe Guez — keyboards Pierre-Michel Balthazar, François Verly — percussions Nguyên Lê — electric guitar Jean-Marc Jafet, Étienne M'Bappé, François Moutin — double bass, electric bass André Ceccarelli, Mokhtar Samba — drums
ONJ Claude Barthélemy - 1989 to 1991
Claude Barthélemy — electric guitar, musical direction
Michael Riessler, Bobby Rangell — saxophones
Jean-François Canape, Patrick Fabert — trumpet, flugelhorn
Yves Favre, Luca Bonvini — trombone
Michel Godard — tuba
Jean-Louis Matinier — accordion
Mico Nissim — piano
Serge Lazarevitch, Gérard Pansanel — electric guitar
Renaud Garcia-Fons, Jean-Luc Ponthieux — double bass, electric bass
Manuel Denizet, Christian Lété — drums
ONJ Denis Badault - 1991 to 1994
Denis Badault — piano, musical direction
Élise Caron — vocals, flute
Rémi Biet, Laurent Blumenthal, Philippe Sellam, Simon Spang-Hanssen — saxophones
Claude Égéa, Claus Stötter — trumpet, flugelhorn
Jean-Louis Pommier, Geoffroy de Masure — trombone
Didier Havet — tuba
Nedim Nalbantoglu — violin
Laurent Hoevenaers — cello
Xavier Desandre Navarre — percussions
Lionel Benhamou — electric guitar
Heiri Kaenzig, Bob Harrison — double bass, electric bass
François Laizeau — drums
ONJ Laurent Cugny - 1994 to 1997
Laurent Cugny — keyboards, musical direction
Denis Barbier — flute
Stefano Di Battista, Boris Blanchet, Pierre-Olivier Govin, Stéphane Guillaume — saxophones Claude Égéa, Serge Plume, Claus Stötter, Pierre Drevet, Flavio Boltro— trumpet, flugelhorn Bernard François, Jacques Peillon — french horn Phil Abraham— trombone Philippe Legris, Christian Laisné — tuba Benoît de Mesmay — keyboards Lionel Benhamou, Frédéric Favarel — electric guitar Frédéric Monino — electric bass Stéphane Huchard — drums
ONJ Didier Levallet - 1997 to 2000
Didier Levallet — double bass, musical direction
Chris Biscoe, Frédéric Couderc, Jean-Rémy Guédon, Richard Foy — saxophones, clarinets Harry Beckett, Michel Feugère, Nicolas Folmer — trumpet, flugelhorn Lionel Surin — french horn Phil Abraham, Yves Robert — trombone Vincent Courtois, Alain Grange — cello Serge Lazarevitch — electric guitar Sophia Domancich — piano François Laizeau, —drums
ONJ Paolo Damiani - 2000 to 2002
Paolo Damiani — cello, musical direction
François Jeanneau soprano saxophone, flute, musical codirection
Javier Girotto, Christophe Monniot, Thomas de Pourquery, Jean-Marc Larché — saxophones Médéric Collignon, Alain Vankenhove — pocket trumpet, trumpet, flugelhorn Gianluca Petrella, Guéorgui Kornazov — trombone Didier Havet — tuba, sousaphone Régis Huby — violin Olivier Benoit, Manu Codjia — electric guitar — double bass Christophe Marguet — drums Laure Donnat — vocals