Biography

Martial Solal was born on August 23, 1927 in Algiers, Alger, France [now Algeria]. He was a composer and actor, known for The Trial (1962), The Dreamers (2003) and Ça va être ta fête (1960). He was married to Anna Michonze. He died on December 12, 2024 in Le Chesnay, Yvelines, France.

Landing in Paris in 1950, in the middle of winter, he had a difficult start before being hired in a club in Pigalle. His notoriety grew, he became the assigned pianist of the Club Saint-Germain, a true temple of jazz, and the Blue Note.

Winner of many awards, Martial Solal received in 1999, the supreme consecration, the Jazzpar Prize, considered the Nobel Prize of jazz, and the Grand Prix of the Jazz Academy in 2021.

Solal learned the rudiments of the piano with his mother, who sang opera, before taking his first lessons around the age of six.