Canadian sax improvisator François Carrier acquired a taste for jazz by way of Phil Woods. After studying at the Quebec conservatory he moved to Vancouver and Montreal to gain experience in various groups and perform in all kinds of jazz clubs. In 1990 he formed his trio (bass player Pierre Côte, drummer Michel Lambert) and developed into a composer of very original music as can be heard on CDs like Poursuite and Intuition. In order to further study the infinite possibilities of acoustic free music, he founded NoEMI (Nouvel Ensemble de Musique Improvisée), a forum where musicians can exchange ideas. He received the Juno Award for his third CD in 2001. For his most recent musical project All' Alba he traveled to Italy to record with the brilliant pianist Uri Caine.