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Jean-Louis Bompoint

Jean-Louis Bompoint is a French director of photography and film director, born June 10, 1960 in La Rochelle, France. He also is a trumpet and vibraphone player. Raised by understanding parents, he has always loved music. In 1969 he discovered jazz on vacation with his godfather who was a real fan. His first shock is listening to Sidney BECHET Throughout the summer, he listens to drummer Cozy COLE, saxophonist Coleman HAWKINS, clarinetist Milton “Mezz” MEZZROW and of course Louis ARMSTRONG. In 1968, his father being a merchant navy officer, the family moved to Marseille. His parents bought him records and, in 1970, he discovered Lionel HAMPTON. At first disturbed by the sound of this instrument, he was quickly fascinated to the point of preferring vibraphone to Sidney BECHET's saxophone. He then discovered the small groups of HAMPTON (1937-41) then the big band which he never tires of. In 1972, his father being posted to Bordeaux, he began to want to make music himself. He would like to play the vibraphone, but his parents shrink from the price of the instrument. He then opted for the trumpet and enrolled in an Artistic & Musical Center in Mérignac. Not being able to decipher, he transposes all his pieces for the trumpet by ear. He then enrolled at the Bordeaux Conservatory where he was admitted in 1973. There he is dealing with teachers who do not understand him. He still does not read the music and is therefore thanked. He then takes private lessons with a classical trumpeter who teaches him the basics. As a teenager, he began to rub shoulders with the jam sessions of the “Jazz Club des Argentiers” in Bordeaux with the pianist Jean-Michel BERNARD who became his best friend. He then got to know the section of the Hot Club de France de Bordeaux where he was pampered by some members such as the late Alain MASSART, Bernard MADEC or Pedro LAFONT. They lend him many records which he copies onto cassettes. Between 1976 and 1982 he attended all the concerts of the Black ans Blue tours and became familiar with the playing of all these great musicians. He thus has the opportunity to finally meet Lionel HAMPTON. While continuing his studies, he played the trumpet with various orchestras, playing the vibraphone in his head and mimicking the solos. In 1983 he moved to Paris where he exercised his first passion: animated cinema which became his main profession. In Paris he knows several musicians, which allows him to continue playing in the capital. In 1986 he was finally able to afford a vibraphone. He learned to play it on his own, still without knowing how to read, but in the spirit of Lionel HAMPTON. Subsequently he formed an orchestra and began to play in Versailles and then in Paris at the Petit Journal Montparnasse. In 1990 he went for the first time to the U.S.A. where Lionel HAMPTON invited him to his apartment. Between 1994 and 1997 he played a lot in the Far East (Seoul, Shanghai). His dream, to have a Big Band and to reconstruct the originals of Lionel HAMPTON of the repertoire of the years 1940/80.