Mino Cinelu
Encyclopedia
Mino Cinelu is a French
musician. He plays multiple instruments. He is a composer
, programmer
and producer
; and is most often associated primarily for his work as a jazz
percussionist.
, Hauts-de-Seine
. He was involved with music from childhood (his father and two brothers were musicians) and started spending time and playing in various concert halls (such as the Chapelle des Lombards) in the suburbs of Paris. He became interested in various styles of music such as jazz, rock, salsa and even in more esoteric varieties like Egyptian chants
and Romani music. He would later expand his repertoire to include fado
, flamenco
, African music, Japanese music, and Slavic music
.
The first instrument that Cinelu took to was the bongo drums, which led him to decide to try and live from his music. He often played the bongos in the streets where he first experimented with improvisation. At the end of the 1970s he became more and more interested in the French jazz fusion
scene where he made many connections with other musicians and members of the music industry. At varying times he worked with Jef Gilson, Chute Libre, and Moravagine. Shortly thereafter he began playing with artists such as Bernard Lavilliers
, Colette Magny, Gong
, and Toto Bissainthe
.
In 1979 he moved to New York
. After a difficult start he met several musicians living in and around the city such as George Benson
, Wayne Shorter
, Kenny Barron
, and Cassandra Wilson
. He continued to learn new instruments in different contexts; for example he played the bass in a gospel choir and earned some money by giving drum lessons. In the beginning of the 1980s he met Miles Davis
while playing in a soul band at the New York club Mikkel's. Miles offered him a job as percussionist in his group, playing alongside the group's drummer Al Foster
. After a month of rehearsals, Cinelu went on tour with Miles Davis' band.
His stint with Miles Davis led to more recognition; during a concert at the Hollywood Bowl
, Joe Zawinul
contacted him to join Weather Report
as percussionist, which he accepted. During this period he began composing music, with the help of WR members Wayne Shorter
and Joe Zawinul
.
Cinelu also played with Michel Portal
after Michel saw him play at the Théâtre du Châtelet
with Miles Davis.
Starting in the 1990s Cinelu began working on a solo career. His first solo album self-titled Mino Cinelu was released in 2000. He followed it up with Quest Journey in 2002 and La californie in 2006.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
musician. He plays multiple instruments. He is a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, programmer
Synthesizer programmer
In video game music, a synthesizer programmer - or a manipulator - helps a composer by choosing the right instruments to play the music inside the video game....
and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
; and is most often associated primarily for his work as a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
percussionist.
Biography
Cinelu was born in Saint-CloudSaint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.Like other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine or Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of the wealthiest cities in France, ranked 22nd out of the 36500 in...
, Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
. He was involved with music from childhood (his father and two brothers were musicians) and started spending time and playing in various concert halls (such as the Chapelle des Lombards) in the suburbs of Paris. He became interested in various styles of music such as jazz, rock, salsa and even in more esoteric varieties like Egyptian chants
Coptic music
Coptic music is the music sung and played in the Coptic Orthodox Church . It consists mainly of chanted hymns in rhythm with instruments such as cymbals and the triangle...
and Romani music. He would later expand his repertoire to include fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, African music, Japanese music, and Slavic music
Music of Yugoslavia
-Meaning:Music of Yugoslavia can mean:#Music of Kingdom of Yugoslavia .#Music of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which includes the music of its constituent republics: Socialist Republic of Slovenia, Socialist Republic of Croatia, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina,...
.
The first instrument that Cinelu took to was the bongo drums, which led him to decide to try and live from his music. He often played the bongos in the streets where he first experimented with improvisation. At the end of the 1970s he became more and more interested in the French jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
scene where he made many connections with other musicians and members of the music industry. At varying times he worked with Jef Gilson, Chute Libre, and Moravagine. Shortly thereafter he began playing with artists such as Bernard Lavilliers
Bernard Lavilliers
Bernard Lavilliers is a French singer.He was born Bernard Oulion in Saint-Étienne, Loire.The band Fatals Picards wrote a song Bernard Lavilliers, satirizing Lavilliers' image as a former adventurer.-Discography:...
, Colette Magny, Gong
Gong (band)
Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...
, and Toto Bissainthe
Toto Bissainthe
Marie Clotilde "Toto" Bissainthe was a Haïtian actress and singer known for her innovative blend of traditional Vodou and rural themes and music with contemporary lyricism and arrangements. Born in Cap-Haïtien in 1934, she left Haïti at an early age to pursue her studies abroad...
.
In 1979 he moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. After a difficult start he met several musicians living in and around the city such as George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
, Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron
Kenny Barron , is an American jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, and known for his lyrical, adaptive style.-Biography:...
, and Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
. He continued to learn new instruments in different contexts; for example he played the bass in a gospel choir and earned some money by giving drum lessons. In the beginning of the 1980s he met Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
while playing in a soul band at the New York club Mikkel's. Miles offered him a job as percussionist in his group, playing alongside the group's drummer Al Foster
Al Foster
Al Foster is an American jazz drummer. Foster played with Miles Davis's large funk fusion group in the 70s, was one of the few people to have contact with Miles during his retirement, and was also part of his comeback album The Man With the Horn of 1981...
. After a month of rehearsals, Cinelu went on tour with Miles Davis' band.
His stint with Miles Davis led to more recognition; during a concert at the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
, Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
contacted him to join Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
as percussionist, which he accepted. During this period he began composing music, with the help of WR members Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
and Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
.
Cinelu also played with Michel Portal
Michel Portal
Michel Portal is a composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.Portal studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris...
after Michel saw him play at the Théâtre du Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
with Miles Davis.
Starting in the 1990s Cinelu began working on a solo career. His first solo album self-titled Mino Cinelu was released in 2000. He followed it up with Quest Journey in 2002 and La californie in 2006.
With Miles Davis
- We Want MilesWe Want MilesWe Want Miles is double album recorded by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in 1981, produced by Teo Macero and released by Columbia Records in 1982. The album features one of the first live appearances by Davis in more than five years, at the Boston Club “KIX”, on June 27, 1981. Other tracks are recorded...
(1982) - DecoyDecoyA decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction, to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.-Duck decoy:The term duck decoy may...
(1984) - Star PeopleStar PeopleStar People is a 1983 album recorded by Miles Davis and issued by Columbia Records. To date, Columbia has not issued Star People on CD in North America, although it is available there as part of the box set Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection; CBS/Sony have issued the album on CD in...
(1986)
With Weather Report
- Sportin' LifeSportin' LifeSportin' Life is the twelfth studio album by Weather Report, released in 1985. Although featuring many more vocal performances than any of their previous albums, words are rare and most vocals are chants from Bobby McFerrin or Carl Anderson...
(1985, Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
) - This is This!This is This!This Is This! is the thirteenth and final studio album by Weather Report. The band thought that they had fulfilled their contract with Columbia Records with the release of the previous album Sportin' Life. This, however, was not the case and the band had to release one more record...
(1986, Columbia Records)
Solo career
- World Trio (1995)
- With Kevin EubanksKevin EubanksKevin Tyrone Eubanks is an American jazz guitarist and composer who was the leader of the Tonight Show Band with host Jay Leno from 1995 to 2010. He also led The Primetime Band on the short-lived The Jay Leno Show.- Personal background :Eubanks was born into a musical family...
and Dave HollandDave HollandDave Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for 40 years....
- With Kevin Eubanks
- Mino Cinelu (2000)
- With Moun Madinina
- Quest Journey (2002)
- California (2006)
With other artists
- Michel PortalMichel PortalMichel Portal is a composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist.Portal studied clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris...
- TurbulenceTurbulenceIn fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
, 1987 - Sting - ...Nothing Like the Sun...Nothing Like the Sun…Nothing Like the Sun is a 1987 album by Sting. The title comes from Shakespeare's Sonnet #130 , which Sting used in the song "Sister Moon"...
, 1987 - Kenny BarronKenny BarronKenny Barron , is an American jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of tenor saxophonist Bill Barron, and known for his lyrical, adaptive style.-Biography:...
/Mino Cinelu - Swamp Sally, 1995 - Layo & Bushwacka!Layo & Bushwacka!Layo & Bushwacka! is the pseudonym of DJs Layo Paskin and Matthew Benjamin.Along with Mr. C, Paskin was the co-owner of The End nightclub in London, where Benjamin was the resident DJ. Labelled variously as tech house, house or breakbeat, the pair usually record and DJ together.Benjamin's best...
/Mino Cinelu - Feels CloserFeels CloserFeels Closer is a 2006 album by the London duo Layo Paskin and Matthew Benjamin, known as Layo and Bushwacka.-Track listing:#Life2Live – 5:32#Feels Closer – 4:24#Ride the Train – 6:13...
, 2006 - Serge Forté - Thanks for All, Ella Productions 2004
- Anna Maria JopekAnna Maria JopekAnna Maria Jopek is a Polish musician and singer. She represented her country in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she collaborated on an album with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny...
- Farat, 2003