Claude Tchamitchian

Claude Tchamitchian is a French jazz double bassist and composer, a leading figure in the world of improvised music in France, whose musical style blends lyricism, a strong rhythmic foundation, and echoes of his Armenian heritage.

Born on December 28, 1960, in Paris, to an Armenian father and a French mother, he grew up in Orléans in a family of musicians, both of his parents being pianists (his father having been a student of Alfred Cortot). He taught himself to play the double bass before pursuing classical and jazz studies at the Avignon Conservatory, where he received a solid technical foundation while also exploring improvisation.

In the early 1990s, he gradually established himself on the French jazz scene. In 1992, he recorded his first album as a bandleader, the double bass solo “Jeux d’enfant,” which already demonstrated his ability to turn the instrument into a veritable orchestra all by itself. In 1993, he founded the Lousadzak septet, a group strongly influenced by Mingus and infused with the modes and colors of Armenian music, where he blends lyricism, collective energy, and formal structure. Notable Ensembles and Projects Lousadzak became a central thread in his career, evolving into various configurations, from the septet to the Grand Lousadzak (with up to twenty musicians), and then to the New Lousadzak (octet), notably featuring the album “Human Songs” released in 2006. At the same time, he leads numerous ensembles: Amarco, Ways Out (quartet or quintet), Poetic Power Trio, and Naïri Trio, and is actively pursuing a solo career in which he explores the double bass in all its sonic dimensions.