Airelle Besson
Origin: France
Airelle Besson, the multi-award-winning jazz trumpeter, has been lighting up the European jazz scene for several years now at the head of her many projects: her quartet, her duo with Lionel Suarez and the Besson/Sternal/Burgwinkel trio.
News
new album in duo with Lionel Suarez (accordion) in February 2026
album "Surprise !" November 2024
About us
Trumpeter, composer, arranger and conductor, Airelle Besson has made a name for herself on the European jazz scene with her clear and powerful playing. Virtuoso but never demonstrative, her sound centres on emotion and musicality. Trained classically and in the field of jazz, her major influences are J. S. Bach and Keith Jarrett. In 2015, she won the Django-Reinhardt Académie du Jazz award as "Musician of the Year" and in the same year the Victoires du Jazz in the category "French Instrumental Revelation of the Year". In 2026, Airelle was awarded the Victoire du Jazz as "Instrumentalist of the Year".
A much sought-after side-woman, Airelle Besson is also a leader and an established composer. Born in Paris, her passion for the trumpet started at the age of four, and she began playing when she was seven. She also learnt the violin, studying it in Oxford (UK) when she was nine. For three years she followed double schooling in France and England. At the Sorbonne University, she studied musicology before entering the prestigious Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, from which she graduated with the first prize in jazz in 2002.
Her musical life thrives on encounters and adventures. In 2014, Airelle Besson transformed her longstanding friendship and collaboration with guitarist Nelson Veras into a poetic, acoustic duo in the album Prélude (Naïve Records). The album was a huge success and continues to captivate listeners. The two musicians toured the international scene for several years.
In 2014, she created her own quartet with Isabel Sörling (voice), Benjamin Moussay (keyboards) and Fabrice Moreau (drums). Widely acclaimed by both the press and the public, their first album (Radio One, Naïve) is a tour de force in equilibrium and lucidity. All the melodic power of her compositions, as well as her talent for harmonization, are elegantly displayed. Their second album, TRY!, released in 2021, was a huge success and received numerous accolades from the critics. The Quartet, now joined by Belgian singer Lynn Cassiers, continues to perform in France and internationally.
Together with pianist Sebastian Sternal and drummer Jonas Burgwinkel, whom she met whilst on tour in Germany in 2013, she explores a different kind of dialogue – one based on freedom and playfulness. Their album Surprise!, released in 2024, reflects their chemistry, in which the ability to listen and a taste for the unexpected take the lead.
In January 2026, the album Blossom was released, a duo with accordionist Lionel Suarez, her long-standing collaborator: a pairing of two musical spirits, blends lyricism, delicacy and freedom. They are currently playing a series of sold-out concerts.
Alongside this, Airelle devotes herself to composing and arranging. In 2014, the English group Metronomy approached her for an arrangement on their album, Love Letters. Airelle also composes and arranges for National symphony orchestras.
Currently, she is artist-in-residence at the Théâtre-Sénart / Scène nationale de Lieusaint, and at La Coursive / Scène nationale de La Rochelle. She values these long-term partnerships, which provide a fertile ground for creativity and for engaging with audiences. She has been artist-in-residence in different places over the past twelve years.
As well as her concert performances, Airelle is actively involved in teaching in conservatories in Paris. She also conducts symphonic orchestras in "jazz style".
Throughout her career, Airelle Besson has been a valued member of various groups led by prestigious artists, notably in Charlie Haden and Carla Bley’s Liberation Music Orchestra in 2006. She has shared the stage with Michel Portal, Youn Sun Nah, Manu Katché, Joe Lovano, Rhoda Scott, Daniel Humair, Gregory Porter, Baptiste Trotignon, Henri Texier, Tom Harrell, José James and Camélia Jordana, amongst others…
She was appointed a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2022 and became a full member of the SACEM in 2025.
For over a decade, Airelle has been sponsored by BNP Paribas Foundation.
Associated Projects
Line-up: Airelle Besson : Trumpet - Lionel Suarez : Accordion
Airelle Besson, a multi-award-winning jazz trumpeter, has been lighting up European stages since 2015 at the head of several projects: duos, quartets, and even an orchestra.
Lionel Suarez has become the essential accordionist who has rehabilitated his 'classical' instrument into a fertile interface for all kinds of music.
An intimate duo, their compositions and improvisations are characterised by a blend of tenderness, danceable spirit and complicity... A rare combination of the brilliance of the trumpet and the mellowness of the accordion, combined with the liveliness, even the explosion, of Airelle's daring proposals and the sensitive inventions orchestrated by Lionel. It's worth emphasising just how much these two have a knack for natural simplicity, quickly shared with an audience in complicity. For while their virtuosity is amply established, it would not inspire the same enthusiasm without the captivating melodic and narrative qualities of this generous recital.
“The trumpeter Airelle Besson, a luminary of French jazz, further nurtures her long relationship with accordionist Lionel Suarez on Blossom, a mainstream but delightful mix of jaunty and tender originals, and affectionate covers of Carla Bley’s ‘Ida Lupino’ and the Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays song ‘Au Lait’.” The Guardian
“It seems an odd pairing, but one that proves more than the sum of its parts (...) No matter the inspiration for the music - a foggy day in Japan’s imperial city for the wistful ‘Kyoto dans la Brume’, for example - we are never far from the moody Parisian skies captured on the cover.” The Observer
“French trumpet accordion duo albums aren’t the product of 52nd street. They don’t belong in a box assembled from a manual by a phalanx of self appointed taste terminators. They aren’t many of these.” Marlbank
Line-up: Airelle Besson : Trumpet - Sebastian Sternal : Piano, Fender Rhodes - Jonas Burgwinkel : Drums
Surprise! Airelle Besson
Jazz or the art of counterplay... anything but cosy complacency.
By joining forces with two brilliant musicians from the prolific music scene in Cologne : pianist Sebastian Sternal and drummer Jonas Burgwinkel, Airelle Besson puts in motion an astonishing juxtaposition. An offbeat trio, with no double bass, joyfully deep-rooted, a collection of miniatures. Short pieces, a playful energy, ten compositions explored with agility, the shared commitment is at its pinnacle. You can hear it between the notes, in the way they listen to each other, their jubilation in leaping to respond to a phrase, a note or a silence.
Born of Airelle's encounters on the European scene, the trio was formed 10 years ago when the pianist exclaimed at the opening of their first concert: "Let's surprise ourselves!". The art of the surprise has become their signature.
Alex Dutilh
Line-up: Airelle Besson : Trumpet - Lynn Cassiers : Vocal - Benjamin Moussay : Piano, Fender Rhodes, bass synth - Fabrice Moreau : drums
With their new album Try, Airelle Besson and her musicians continue to explore the paths of sensitive jazz. Carried by the pure, powerful voice of Lynn Cassiers, the improvisations and dialogues between trumpet, piano and percussion create a music that is luminous, ethereal and delicate.
Discovered by the general public in 2015 with her critically acclaimed album Radio One ("Revelation" at the Victoires du Jazz awards), Airelle Besson's passion for the trumpet dates back to her earliest years. A love of the instrument has made her one of the most awarded jazz trumpeters in the world. Musician, performer, orchestrator, producer, arranger (notably for the famous British pop group Metronomy): Airelle Besson is the embodiment of the French jazz revival.
Concerts on the frontiers of free jazz and pop, enhanced by Airelle Besson's improvisational talent, pianist Benjamin Moussay's melodic contributions, Fabrice Moreau's spellbinding rhythm and Lynn Cassiers' subtly dazzling vocals. There's a natural understanding between these four, their music born of multiple influences, but also of a shared passion: that of offering us suspended, universal moments where trumpet and song respond or melt in unison.
Try draws swirls between light and shade, hot and cold, inviting us to take an aerial and sensual journey. Organic and lively, this bewitching album will accompany you on your journey.
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