BIO
Matthieu Bordenave is a French saxophonist and clarinetist, who is currently based in Munich, Germany. Born in 1983 in Southern France, he began his early musical studies with classical saxophonist Christian Charnay and with Thierry Girault (jazz) in Annecy, before he moved to Paris at the age of 17, where he continued to work with André Villéger. He entered the national conservatory (CNSM), studying in its department of jazz and improvised music. His workshops teachers in Paris included Chris Potter, Louis Sclavis, Paolo Fresu, Marc Johnson and bass-clarinetists Jean-Marc Volta and Philippe-Olivier Deveaux. His musical education continued at the Musikhochschule of Munich where he graduated with a Master of Music, he also received the DAAD Prize during his studies.
He has performed with some of most outstanding musicians including Lee Konitz, Rudi Mahall, Yaron Herman, Henning Sieverts, Florian Weber, Shinya Fukumori, Peter O'Mara, Geoff Goodman.
On Enja Records he releases two albums with his trio “Le Café Bleu International” as well as in quartet with “Terre de Sienne”.
He also records an album with the American guitarist Geoff Goodman: "Inverted Forest" on Doublemoon Records.
In 2018, he makes his debut on the legendary label ECM Records with the Shinya Fukumori Trio.
His leader debut album “La traversée” (2020) on ECM records received enthusiastic reviews.
“Matthieu Bordenave has established himself as one of the outstanding figures of contemporary European jazz. His tone paintings are timeless pictures of enchanting beauty and power.” (ARD – German national broadcast)