Armel Dupas Trio with Jules Billé & Christophe Piot
Biography Armel Dupas Trio with Jules Billé & Christophe Piot
Armel Dupas
is a multi-project artist rooted in the concerns of his time, and defines himself as a pianist-entrepreneur. But he's much more than that: a keen traveller, aware of the realities of the international music market as much as of environmental issues, he takes musical creation from a reinvented jazz base to nourish well-being and spirituality in particular.
Attracted to jazz and improvisation from an early age, he was quickly identified in the French jazzosphere after brilliant studies at the Conservatoire de Paris - CNSMDP. His attraction to artistic diversity led him to spend over 10 years touring, performing concerts and composing music for film and theatre. He has worked with Henri Texier, Arnaud Desplechin, Sandra Nkaké, Catherine Ringer and director Ladislas Chollat.
His work as a leader began with two acclaimed albums: Inner Island, an album by the group WaterBabies, winner of the Tremplin Rezzo Focal Jazz à Vienne in 2013, followed by Upriver in 2015, released under the prestigious Jazz Village label. In 2017-2018, the Armel Dupas Trio toured the French and European jazz scenes with the support of the Jazz Migration project, which supported the release of the album A Night Walk.
In 2019, Armel discovers the pleasure of performing solo outside the traditional circuits, building up a tour of 100 concerts in people's homes called Home Piano Live, which marries perfectly with the release of his album Broderies, his biggest success to date (over 4 million listens on Spotify). Performing more abroad than in France, Armel is preparing to leave for Moscow, a move aborted by the COVID crisis. This was an opportunity to return to his roots in Nantes, where Armel rediscovered the quiet life, surrounded by nature and old friends. Home Piano Live became a live programme on YouTube, playing jazz for friends from near and far.
It was on this occasion that Armel met drummer Christophe Piot, a chameleon musician specialising in world rhythms. His Funny Grooves videos offer Armel a new take on his own compositions, juxtaposing piano and drums. The idea of a joint project began to take shape: an elegant, melodic jazz trio in which each musician expresses his own palette of colours. Jules Billé, a young double-bass player who was still at school when they met, brings groove and freshness to the trio.
Jules Billé
began playing the classical double bass at the age of 7, followed by jazz a few years later. After studying classical double bass at the CRD in La Roche-sur-Yon in Tiphaine Macé's class, and jazz at the CRR in Nantes with Jean-Marie Bellec, Ronan Courty and Patrick Charnois, he passed his Diplôme d'Études Musicales in both disciplines in 2022. The same year he joined the Jazz and Improvised Music department of the Paris Conservatoire - CNSMDP.
Nurtured from the outset by a wide range of musical aesthetics, including gypsy swing, early music, classical music and jazz, he is interested in the music that surrounds him and seeks to enrich his practice in these ways.
He takes part in the Myriad project led by Alban Darche and the Nantes-based label Yolk Records. He has been a member of the Armel Dupas Trio since 2021.
Christophe Piot
has been studying music since the age of 6. A pupil of Olivier Bertrand, Yves Teslar and Peter Erskine, he also studied classical percussion at the Conservatoire and Afro-Cuban music in France and Cuba. Passionate about rhythm in all its forms, he is an active participant in numerous jazz, chanson, world and traditional music projects. He has accompanied renowned artists such as Sixun, Alain Debiossat, Baptiste Herbin, Adama Yalomba, Cécile Corbel and Octantrion, participated in the recording of 40 albums, and created the "FunnyGrooves" educational videos. Alongside his activities as a musician, he teaches in various forms, and travels to meet the rhythmic cultures he loves.
