Ludovic Beier

Born in 1978, Ludovic Beier learned the accordion from his father and benefits from being part of a musical family. He was brought up in the French tradition of the instrument and turned to jazz a few years ago. He has a spirited, adventurous style which strays into all kinds of byways.

He is playing on the French and European scene with some of the top players of the Django/Swing Jazz style including Angelo Debarre, Dorado Schmitt, Florin Niculescu…He certainly is giving the accordion a new name as his fingers go across the keys in an almost unbelievable way, both swinging and amazingly creative in his improvisation. Along with his virtuoso playing, he composes and arranges, and has his own band, Ludovic Beier Quartet, to perform his "cool and latin" French jazz. He has an impressive technique and also a great dose of lyricism with a band that keeps him at full stretch. Accordion will never be the same under his knowledgeable hands, and the new directions he takes. Besides playing around Europe at top festivals and clubs, he appeared in the States with the Django Reinhardt Project, performing at Birdland (NYC) with guests such as Paquito D'Rivera, at Lincoln Center with Joe Lovano, at Yoshis (CA) with David Sanchez, and last summer at the Montreal International Jazz Festival with Angelo Debarre and James Carter where he brought the house down. He also had the honour to perform at Carnegie Hall with Toots Thielemans among a prestigious line up including Herbie Hancock, Ivan Lins and Eliane Elias.