XAVIER BELIN & BAPTISTE POULIN

The brainchild of saxophonist Baptiste Poulin and pianist Xavier Belin, Crossing is a duo influenced by legendary duos such as Kenny Barron and Stan Getz, Lee Konitz and Martial Solal, and Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman. Through a varied repertoire of standards and creations, Crossing takes us on a musical journey where interaction, listening and creativity are at the heart of their play. Crossing can be translated as the crossing of two roads or two ideas. The result of a crossing is always something new. Crossing is the encounter between Xavier's highly syncopated, motivating and stable playing and Baptiste's virtuoso, lyrical and moving style. A cross between the warm timbre of the saxophone and the round, percussive sound of the piano. The blending of green memories of the Burgundy countryside with the bright, flowery landscapes of Martinique. Simultaneously winner of the Prix du Public and the Prix du Jury at the 2019 Golden Jazz Trophy springboard (co-organized by Golden Eyes and Jazz En Nord), Xavier Belin is undoubtedly one of France's most promising young pianists. Major of the 2014 class of the International Music Educator Of Paris (and also a graduate of the capital's Pôle Supérieur de Musique), in 2018 he formed Pitakpi, a quartet strongly reminiscent of so-called “Afro-descendant” music. Baptiste, meanwhile, is a young composer and performer whose reputation was first established in his native Mâcon, before he joined the Pôle Supérieur de Musique de Paris (directed by Jean-Charles Richard), where he made friends with Xavier. Now collaborating with leading figures in French jazz (Franck Tortiller, Pierre de Bethmann, Éric Prost), he has taken part in Fred Morin's ONJ, and created the hip-hop/New Orleans fanfare Take Off Brass Band.