Gui Duvignau

Gui Duvignau is a jazz bassist and composer. Born in France and raised in Brazil, he is based in New York City. His transcultural background and world travels led him to study contemporary composition, and to perform with rock, Brazilian, and other global musicians. These experiences have informed his writing and playing style. His rich, lyrical, woody tone and light touch are evident whether he is playing post- and hard bop, vanguard jazz or Brazilian sounds. His recording projects, beginning with 2010's Porto in collaboration with Portuguese songwriter Sofia Ribeiro, have been deeply influenced by his assonant harmonic approach. 2016's Fissura marked his debut as a bandleader. Recorded in Paris, it featured Duvignau leading a vanguard sextet composed of two sax players, two guitarists, and a drummer. He returned to São Paulo and led his own performing groups, but played frequently with Trio Improvisado and the Carlos Ezequiel Trio, with whom he recorded Circular in 2017. After moving to New York City in 2018, Duvignau finished his master's degree at NYU in 2020, formed a quintet, and in 2021 released 3,5,8, his Sunnyside debut. Duvignau was born in France to parents who were self-described seekers and explorers. After his birth, they left France and spent a short time in Morocco before migrating to Brazil and settling in Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais state. During his teens, his family moved to São Paulo, where he and his brother were drawn to the local rock and metal scenes. Duvignau began his musical life on the electric bass, while his brother played guitar. While rock lit the fire of discovery in him, it didn't provide his imagination or burgeoning technique with enough of a challenge to hold his imagination. Seeking out other musical possibilities for his instrument, he quite naturally migrated toward jazz. While Weather Report's Jaco Pastorius and Miles Davis' electric bassist Michael Henderson offered the young man initial inspiration, it was ultimately Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, and Charlie Haden who provided the greatest influence. Duvignau began studying with a local guitarist, who provided him with the fundamentals of jazz harmony without attempting to formally rein him in. From here, Duvignau was at first drawn into and then obsessed with the great Brazilian songbook and its composers, including Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque, Baden Powell, Joao Donato, and Elis Regina. After high school, Duvignau attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he met future collaborator, German guitarist Elias Meister, and received a bachelor's degree in Jazz Composition. Upon graduating, he moved to Portugal for a time and while there, recorded the album Porto in 2010 with singer and songwriter Sofia Ribeiro. After playing shows together, the restless Duvignau returned to France; on the Paris jazz scene he established a reputation for his excellent, innovative playing and composing. He formed a sextet with sax and clarinet players Jonathan Orland and Julien Pontvianne, guitarists Federico Casagrande and Thomas Caillou, and drummer Thibault Perriard. In late 2015, he recorded Fissura with this group; it was issued the following year by the Onze Heures Onzes label. It received attention on national radio and was selected as one of the year's best albums by jazz critics in the French magazine JazzNews. Duvignau returned to São Paulo, where he formed and led his own groups while performing regularly with Trio Improvisado (also featuring Marcelo Castilha and Pedro Ito) and with the Carlos Ezequiel Trio on their independently issued album Circular; the set included guest spots from David Binney and Lage Lund. Duvignau returned to America in 2018, this time to study in NYU's master's program with Ron Carter, Drew Gress, Billy Drummond, Billy Drewes, Brad Shepik, and Michael Wolff, to name a few. While completing his master’s degree Duvignau met a number of musicians -- Drewes in particular -- who would prove influential in helping to shape his mature sound and evolving compositional approach. He was introduced to Argentinian pianist Santiago Leibson at a recording session. The pianist in turn called drummer Jeff Hirshfield to attend one of their initial meetings. They established an effortless rapport and began to play regular sessions and gigs. In 2020, Duvignau graduated with a master's degree in jazz studies. His theses was the book From the Bottom Up, featuring essays and interviews with bassists including Carter, Buster Williams, Ron McClure, Mike Richmond, Jay Anderson, Gress, and Christian McBride. When Duvignau signed to Sunnyside, he appended his trio, adding Drewes on tenor and German guitarist -- and Berklee classmate -- Elias Meister. This quintet recorded the bassist's Sunnyside debut album, 3,5,8, and released it to critical acclaim in January 2021.
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