Jean-Pierre Bertrand is considered by the media and the public as one of the best Boogie Woogie pianists in France.
Born in 1955 in St Germain en Laye, he began learning this style at the age of 14, listening to pianists such as Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Sammy Price, Memphis Slim, Lloyd Glenn and Meade Lux Lewis.
Since 1989, he has recorded 14 albums. He is also the organizer and producer of the "Nuits Jazz et Boogie piano", an international festival that has brought together the world's best pianists in this genre in Paris every year since 1989 (at the Hôtel Lutétia and the Carrousel du Louvre), as well as the "Beaune Blues Boogie" Festival in Burgundy since 2006. Jean-Pierre Bertrand performs in jazz clubs, for private and public concerts, and organizes numerous musical events.
A regular at jazz festivals, he played at the Cincinnati Blues Festival (USA) in '97, in Detroit in '98 for a concert dedicated to Classical Jazz piano, and at the Hanover Jazz Festival (Germany) and Den-Haag (Holland). He has performed as a piano duo with Ray Bryant, Bob Seeley, Axel Zwingenberger, Little Willie Littlefield and regularly with the eminent Berlin-based Allema,nd pianist Frank Muschalle.
His style is based on Blues improvisation and covers of Jazz standards, which he adapts to the Boogie-Woogie style. His velocity and the acoustic qualities of his piano playing lie in his solid tempo.
Gifted with a fine touch and a very personal approach to Blues and Boogie, he distills each piece with flair and Swing, which is one of his great assets.
His musical influences include pianist Albert Ammons, with his characteristic tremolos and intense pulse, as well as Memphis Slim, Pete Johnson, Lloyd Glenn and Sammy Price, to name but a few.
Jean-Pierre Bertrand's repertoire includes Boogie classics such as Yancey Special, Honky Tonk Train Blues, Boogie Woogie Stomp, Chicago Breakdown, Pinetop's Boogie, etc., as well as Jazz New Orleans and Blues themes such as Swanee River Boogie, All of me, The Sheik of Araby, Margie and My blue Heaven.
Jean-Pierre Bertrand performs as a piano soloist, duo, trio or orchestra of 5 to 8 musicians, and has designed a concert entitled "Boogie Story", during which he explains the history of Boogie Woogie to the audience in French or English.
Each piece is accompanied by a commentary on its origins, its composer and all the anecdotes that make up jazz music.
