The clarinettist Sylvain Kassap, born in 1956, has been a key figure of the jazz and improvised music scene since the end of the 1970s, but his desire to explore the different repertories available to his instrument has driven him naturally to try his hand at the work of contemporary composers and to be a founding member in 1993 of Laborintus, an ensemble devoted to creative music.

Composing firstly for the cinema, the theatre and dance, his desire to address the needs of soloists and groups such as Ars Nova and Alternance, led him to write in a more contemporary vein, influenced initially by Luciano Bério and Franco Donatoni, and then more personal.

A musician who plays with emotion and an effervescent, totally unpredictable imagination, Sylvain Kassap explores and deploys music that is rich in colour and nuance, from free improvisation to contemporary music, from ethnic music to compositions, driven by an untamed spirit of freedom.

"Some jazz musicians...carry within them dreams of togetherness. Sylvain Kassap is one of those that lives them, obstinately, seizing every opportunity, seeking and inviting others to join him. He is indispensable to the European jazz scene". Michel Contat - TELERAMA