Composer and bassist Henri Texier (1945) has spent an entire lifetime in jazz. As a young musician he played in Paris clubs with icons like Bud Powell, Dexter Gordon, Kenny Clarke and Art Taylor. Apart from being a musician, Texier is also an accomplished composer whose works have been performed by renowned artists including Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell. This year the hard-working Frenchman is bringing a special project to Rotterdam: Sky Dancers 6. This is the name of his new group as well as his latest album that was released in February. Sky Dancers was the name given to the Mohawk ironworkers who helped build skyscrapers in cities like New York. With absolutely no fear of heights, they worked high up in the air, walking on narrow steel beams. From a young age, Texier was fascinated by the culture of Native Americans who were severely oppressed in North America. Their courage inspired the Sky Dancer 6 project in which Texier merges Native-American influences with his own.
