Texier, Henri

Texier, Henri, contemporary jazz bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer; b. Paris, Jan. 27, 1945. He began on the piano at age eight and played in an amateur Dixieland band at 14. He became interested in modern jazz in 1960 and took up bass the following year. Soon he was playing with Jef Gilson and at the Chat Qui Peche and Blue Note clubs with Americans such as Chet Baker, Bud Powell, and Johnny Griffin. In 1965, he began to play festivals with his own quintets, one of which briefly included Enrico Rava, Michel Portal, and Aldo Romano. That same year, he played with Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Mal Waldron, Barney Wilen. In 1966, Texier played with Lee Konitz, Rene Thomas, and Dexter Gordon. After military service in 1967, Texier played with Hampton Hawes, Dave Pike, Slide Hampton, and Art Farmer before joining Phil Woods on tour through 1970. During the early 1970s, he formed a folk-rock group, Total Issue; worked with Jean-Luc Ponty and George Gruntz, and in 1976 began giving solo concerts. He then worked in a trio with Didier Lockwood and cellist Jean-Charles Capon, and in 1979-80 with François Jeanneau and Daniel Humair. Since then he has mostly led his own groups; these groups often include special guests such as Kenny Wheeler and Dewey Redman in 1987-88 (with Joe Lovano added in 1988), and Aldo Romano, with whom he continues to work. In the 1990s, Texier formed the quartet Azu with Glenn Ferris and was active in founding the jazz musicians union in France.

Discography

A Cordes et a Cris (1979); La Companera (1983); Paris-Batignolles (1986); Colonel Skopje (1988). Jef Gilson: Blue-Bizz (1962). P. Woods: The Day When the World (1970).

—Lewis Porter