Nominated for the Victoires du Jazz 2015 as Jazz Revelation of the year, Martinique-born, Paris-based Grégory Privat continues his rise into the big league. “Family Tree” is his first trio recording and ACT debut.

“Grégory always puts great spirit into the music. He is a real performer. As soon as I started listening to the album, I got carried away and did not want it to stop.” (Lars Danielsson)

The tree of jazz has many roots. One of them is to be found on the islands where the biguine began. It happened in the 1920’s in the Caribbean, or - to be more precise - in the two French “Départements d’Outre Mer” of Martinique and Guadeloupe. The beguine emerged as a swing dance, normally quite slow, which drew its inspiration from the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of the Gwoka and Bèlè, from the French musette, and from elements of Creole-American jazz. In the heyday of “Négritude” it was incredibly popular, which meant that it not only left a durable mark on jazz in France, but also on “Zouk,” the dominant pop music of Martinique and Guadeloupe.