French bassist Joelle Leandre debuted with the charming vignettes of
Les Douze Sons (1984),
that also contained the nine-minute Les Trois Dames, followed
by the six lengthy pieces of Sincerely (1985).
Les Domestiques (1988) was a collaboration with avantgarde violinist
Jon Rose.
Then came Urban Bass (1991) with elegant compositions such as
Ouverture, Temoignage and
Seraphine Duo.
No Comment (2001) document live performances (june 1995 and october 1994).
Among her many collaborations were:
Ecritures (may 1990) with violinist Carlos Zingaro,
Palimpseste (september 1991) with pianist Eric Watson,
Blue Goo Park (july 1992) with German accordionist Ruediger Carl,
Leandre Contet (december 1994) with accordionist Pascal Contet,
Contrabasses (january 1996) with William Parker,
No Waiting (may 1997) with guitarist Derek Bailey,
Incandescences (may 1997) with pianist Giorgio Occhipinti,
E'vero (july 1997) with trombonist Sebi Tramontana,
Short Takes (april 1998) with Japanese pianist Haruna Miyake,
Sapporo Duets (september 1998) with pianist Ryoji Hojito,
Organic - Mineral (june 1999) with pianist Kazue Sawai,
Tricotage (2000) with percussionist Danielle Roger,
Passaggio (april 2001) with pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and drummer Susie Ibarra.
Dire Du Dire (2000) simply documents an interview.
Leandre veered towards noise with collaborative projects such as:
Near And Far (january 2001) with Chim Nwabueze on "musical saw",
Tempted To Smile (november 2002) with
guitarist Fred Frith and violinist Jonathan Segel,
No Day Rising (october 2002) with koto player Brett Larner and guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi,
For Flowers (june 2001) and
with violinist Mat Maneri,
Evident (may 2002) with percussionist Mark Nauseef,
Leaves Blossoms (august 2002) and One More Time (july 2002) with Steve Lacy,
Sur Une Balancoire (may 2003) with pianist Gianni Lenoci.
After You Gone (may 2003) was a
live quartet of double bassists (Barre Phillips, William Parker, Tetsu Saitoh).
Her collaborations were becoming more and more heterogeneous:
Firedance (september 2004) and Journey (2010) with violinist India Cooke,
Face It (april 2005) and Conversations Live In Ljubljana (october 2012) with vocalist Lauren Newton,
Voyages (august 2005) with pianist Satoh Masahiko,
Winter In New York (december 2006) with vibraphonist Kevin Norton,
A L'Improviste (march 2007) with double bassist Barre Phillips,
Duo (march 2007) with Anthony Braxton,
Out of Nowhere (january 2008) with pianist Quentin Sirjacq,
Kor (2008) with reed player Akosh S,
Transatlantic Visions (june 2008) with trombonist George Lewis,
Evidence (november 2011) with flutist Jerome Bourdellon,
Trans (january 2012) and Trans 2 with guitarist Serge Teyssot-Gay,
The Bill Has Been Paid (may 2012) with vocalist Steve Dalachinsky,
Sisters Where (february 2013) with flutist Nicole Mitchell,
Elastic (october 2015) with violinist Theo Ceccaldi,
etc.
The MMM (Mills Music Mafia) Quartet, featuring Joelle Leandre (double bass), Fred Frith (electric guitar), Alvin Curran (piano, synthesizer, samples) and Urs Leimgruber (tenor & soprano saxophone), released Live At The Metz' Arsenal (november 2009) and the other live Oakland & Lisboa (august 2014).
Solo (september 2009) documents a live performance.
A trio with Benoit Delbecq (piano) and Francois Houle (clarinets) recorded
14 Rue Paul Fort, Paris (november 2013).
The Judson Trio with violist Mat Maneri and drummer Gerald Cleaver debuted with the live An Air Of Unreality (july 2015).
The eight-disc box-set
A Woman’s Work
documents quartets, trios, duets and solos performances.
Guests include:
Maggie Nichols (vocals) and Irene Schweizer in Les Diaboliques (october 2015); Mat Maneri on violin in Duet (january 2011); Lauren Newton on vocals in Duet (february 2016); Jean-Luc Capozzo on trumpet in Duet (november 2015); guitarist Fred Frith in Duet (june 2016); a Solo (june 2005); Zlatko Kaucic (drums, percussion), Evan Parker (tenor sax) and Agusti Fernandez (piano) in a Quartet (october 2015); the same musicians in Duos (october 2015).
Leandre-Minton (october 2016) documents a collaboration with
vocalist Phil Minton, notably the 31-minute Silence.
Tender Music (april 2016) documents a live duet with
Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik.
Chez Helene (may 2018) was a collaboration with Marc Ducret (electric guitar): four lenghty improvisations inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe's poem.
Enfances 8 Janv 1984 documents a live performance by Joelle Leandre (double bass), Daunik Lazro (alto sax) and George Lewis (trombone).
The triple-disc box-set Strings Garden collects various sessions (april 2016, july 2016, october 2017) with Bernard Santacruz (double bass) and Theo Ceccaldi (violin and viola).
The Tiger Trio with pianist Myra Melford and flutist Nicole Mitchell debuted with the live Unleashed (march 2016), followed by the live Map Of Liberation (november 2018).
The Jubileum Quartet, with Evan Parker (tenor sax), Agusti Fernandez (piano) and Zlatko Kaucic (drums and objects), is documented on the live
A UIS? (may 2018).
Stormy Whispers (october 2018) documents a live performance
by Joelle Leandre (bass), Myra Melford (piano) and Lauren Newton (voice).
Leandre formed the Judson trio with Mat Maneri (viola) and Gerald Cleaver (drums, small percussion).
The double-disc set Light And Dance
(january 2020)
contains both a live performance
and studio compositions.
The triple-disc
Beauty/Resistance (november 2019) documents a live performance
with Mateusz Rybicki on clarinet, Zbigniew Kozera on contrabass, Rafal Mazur on acoustic bass guitar and Zlatko Kaucic on drums (two discs contain duets with Mazur).
At Souillac En Jazz (july 2021) is a solo album performed live in a church.
BLA BLA BLA Duo (october 2021) contains improvised duets with percussionist Nuria Andorra.
Off Course (may 2013) documents improvised duets with
Paul Lovens (drums, cymbals and gong).
Mat Maneri (viola), Joelle Leandre (double bass) and Craig Taborn (piano) recorded hEARoes (february 2022).
