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Artist
Open Sky Unit
12+ albums
jazzfunkfrenchinstrumentalpiano
about
The whatmusic.com interview... I started playing drums at 14 - it was the instrument that attracted me the most because in my mind drums represented freedom. It was when I heard John Coltrane 4tet with Elvin Jones in 1965 at Comblain-La-Tour Festival that I really decided to be a drummer. Of course the influence of my father Jacques Pelzer was important in my decision to become a professional musician. In my infancy I was always surrounded by bebop musicians - Bobby Jaspar, Rene Thomas and Chet Baker, for example. I began performing concerts in 1967, mostly with my father and also with guitarist Rene Thomas and organist Lou Bennett; the best school to learn is the stage! In the late 60s I was very influenced by the free jazz scene and Steve Lacy, who was a good friend of my father, asked me to join his Post Free Big Band (with Enrico Rava on trumpet) for a 6 month tour of Italy. Back in Belgium I then had a few concerts under my own name with a trio comprised of Johnny Dyani on bass and Mongezi Feza on trumpet, and I asked my father to join us for that 'free adventure'. In 1969 we opened for Miles Davis at the Liege Festival. That evening, Wayne Shorter heard the group and asked me to come to NY to record with him. I arrived in New York in December 1969 and then recorded Wayne's Blue Note LP "Moto Grosso Feio" in April 1970 with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, John McLaughlin, Ron Carter and Miroslav Vitous. New York was a big shock for me; I've never felt such strong vib
