Heteropsis Narcissus Borbonica

Benjamin Faconnier is a French-Reunionese trumpet player, singer and music composer born in Perpignan, France. He started playing the trumpet at the age of 17, and it was at the Montpellier conservatory, where he graduated in jazz, that he developed a real interest for improvisation, and for the in-depth study of his instrument. During these years, Benjamin has participated in numerous studio sessions, recording on 16 albums (the last one being his own composition project), and has also performed extensively with various projects he has been a part of, either in his own name or in formations such as The Unknown project (Original Cinematic Concept), The Skamanians (Original Ska), The Carolina Reapers Swing (Swing), L’Orchestre Syncopatique (New Orleans), and more recently the GROô (under the direction of Fred Pallem), to name a few. He has also acquired experience during tours and one-off concerts in France and abroad: Reunion Island, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, Tunisia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Benjamin draws his inspiration from the music of African- American masters such as Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, from more contemporary musicians such as Roy Hargrove, Ambrose Akinmusire, Xian (Christian Scott) Atunde Adjuah, but also from Maloya, the traditional music of Reunion Island and its African roots, where he is originally from. All this, leads Benjamin today to lead his first composition project: Papillon.

Mishko M’ba is a renowned French bassist, composer, and producer. He has studied western classical music in Toulouse and focused later on jazz and rock. As a much demanded bass player who really makes his instrument sing, he has touring in USA, Europe and Asia with various bands of different musical styles for many years. He is among the most valuable French bassists, having worked with renowned artists such as Ray Charles, Lucky Ali, Khaled, Didier Lockwood, Johnny Halliday, Zazie or yet Pascal Obispo to name but a few.

Karel Miranville is an accomplished jazz pianist, and keyboard player from Reunion island. In addition to play music with different formations, he also teaches music. Karel is a versatile musician who can express himself through both jazz and traditional music.

Julien Rivière is a traditional percussionist from Reunion Island. Currently a student at the conservatory of music, he specializes in Maloya, the Reunionese traditional music. Julien is very involved in Reunion’s cultural life, and plays actively with several groups, both traditional and fusion.

Sami Pageaux-Waro is a multi-instrumentalist, percussions and kora player. He was born into the maloya tradition, which he learned and practiced alongside his father Danyel Waro (whose group he officially joined between 2003 and 2016) and other major artists on the Reunion Island scene, like Zanmari Baré, Nathalie Natiembé, Ananda Peters, or yet René Lacaille. Sami has performed and toured all over the world (Europe, Morocco, West Africa, Southern Africa, Indian Ocean, India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada…) thanks to the many projects he has been involved in (Lo griyo, Danyel Waro, Zanmari Baré, the film-concert “Bagdad Fantaisie”, the play “Dis oui”…). ) and has been able to share the stage, forge and deepen close and nourishing musical ties with leading jazz and traditional music artists such as Bojan Z, Médéric Collignon, Bijan Chemirani, Karim Ziad, Magic Malik and Mehdi Nassouli.

Frédéric Piot is a renowned musician from Reunion Island. An experienced percussionist, he is also an educator. Frederic has played with many international musicians, including Vincent Ségal, Ballaké Sissoko, Melody Gardot and Paco Séry, to name but a few.