Guy Lafitte, André Persiany - Complete Les Classiques Du Jazz (2021)

• A fine swing tenorman whose main inspiration was always Coleman Hawkins, Guy Lafitte appeared in many mainstream settings through the years. LaFitte started out paying clarinet including with swing-oriented gypsy bands. After switching to tenor in 1947 and moving to Paris, he worked with Big Bill Broonzy (1950), Mezz Mezzrow (1951), Bill Coleman (off and on starting in 1952), Dicky Wells and Buck Clayton. Through the years, Lafitte has frequently led his own mainstream combos and was also often utilized by veteran American players who were visiting France including Lionel Hampton (1956), Duke Ellington (for the 1961 film Paris Blues), Milt Buckner, Wallace Davenport, Arnett Cobb and Wild Bill Davis. As a leader, Guy Lafitte led many sessions during the 1954-93 period (particularly 1954-64) including for CFD, Duc-Thomson, Pathe, French Columbia, VSM, French RCA, Vega, Black & Blue and CTPL.

• b. André Paul Stephane Persiani, 19 November 1927, Paris, France, d. 2 January 2004, Paris, France. Persiany began playing piano as a child and by his early twenties was an accomplished leader of small groups playing swing-style jazz. He worked with numerous touring American jazz artists including Bill Coleman, Buck Clayton and Lionel Hampton through the late 40s and early 50s. In the mid-50s he moved to New York where he played with several bands before becoming a member of the Jonah Jones quartet in 1961. He remained with Jones for most of the decade before returning to his homeland. In the 70s he again played with visiting Americans, including Cat Anderson, Arnett Cobb, Charlie Shavers, Budd Johnson and Milt Buckner, in whose playing style Persiany found qualities he liked and chose to emulate. He played with a strong rhythmic pulse and a clear preference for the swing era style of jazz piano.