Michel Portal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Musician
- composer
Michel Portal | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 27 November 1935 Bayonne, France |
| Died | 12 February 2026 (aged 90) |
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| Years active | 1950s–2026 |
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Michel Portal (27 November 1935 – 12 February 2026) was a French composer, saxophonist and clarinetist. He played both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz".[2]
Portal was born in Bayonne on 27 November 1935.[3][4] His family was musical and there were several instruments in his house when he was growing up.[2] His interest in jazz began after hearing it on the radio after World War II.[2] He studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris[3] and conducting with Pierre Dervaux.[5]
Career
Portal "gained experience in light music with the bandleaders Henri Rossotti and (in Spain in 1958) Perez Prado, as well as with the drummer Benny Bennett (1960), Raymond Fonsèque (1963), Aimé Barelli, and, for many years, the singer Claude Nougaro".[3] Portal co-founded the free improvisation group New Phonic Art.[2] During 1969, Portal played on a recording of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Aus den sieben Tagen.[2]
Portal began scoring music for films in the 1980s.[2] He has won the César Award for Best Music Written for a Film three times.[6][7][8]
