Pierre Michelot


Pierre Michelot was a French jazz double bass player and arranger.

Early life

Michelot was born in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris on 3 March 1928. He studied piano from 1936 until 1938. He switched to playing bass at the age of sixteen.

Later life and career

He played and recorded with visiting American musicians in Paris. He "played with Rex Stewart, performed at Frisco's in Paris with Kenny Clarke, and joined Clarke in a band accompanying Coleman Hawkins, with whom he recorded; in 1949 he also recorded with Clarke in an ad hoc band led by Sidney Bechet."
Through his career he played with Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, Don Byas, Thelonious Monk, Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Bud Powell, Zoot Sims, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker.
With Miles Davis he was responsible for the 1957 soundtrack of Ascenseur pour l'échafaud. He was a member of the Jacques Loussier Trio, known for the Play Bach album series from 1959. For two decades beginning in the early 1960s, he concentrated on arranging and studio work. He also appeared in the 1986 film Round Midnight. In later life he suffered from Alzheimer's disease. He died in Paris on 3 July 2005.

Discography

As leader

With Daniel Humair & Rene Urtreger
With Jacques Loussier and Christian Garros
With Claude Bolling
With Clifford Brown
With Sidney Bechet
With Don Byas
With Miles Davis
With France Gall
With Serge Gainsbourg
With Stan Getz
With Dizzy Gillespie
With Dexter Gordon
With Coleman Hawkins
With Andre Hodeir
With Jacques Loussier and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
With Claude Nougaro
With Bud Powell
With Sammy Price
With Stephane Grappelli
With Django Reinhardt
With Zoot Sims
With others