Listen: stunning performance of Michel Petrucciani playing ‘Take The A Train’ live at Montreux

The BMG label has released a visualiser video of Michel Petrucciani performing ‘Take The A Train’, a rare piece of footage taken from Petrucciani’s performance at the 1993 Montreux Jazz Festival and appears on the upcoming release Michel Petrucciani: The Montreux Years, which is released on 7 April. ‘Take The A train’ appears on Petrucciani’s 1992 solo album Promenade With Duke, which he recorded at the age of 30 and pays a vibrant tribute to his father who first gave him the desire to play the piano. 

Born in the South of France in 1962, Michel Petrucciani came from a totally musical family (his father Tony is a guitarist, and his brothers Louis and Philippe are respectively double bassists and guitarists). He was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta - or “glass bone disease” and only ever grew to 99cm. Despite his health condition, Petrucciani went on to become one of the most accomplished jazz pianists of his generation and became a musical prodigy.  

At the age of 13, Petrucciani gave his first professional concert performance at the Cliousclat festival in which he joined American jazzman Clark Terry onstage when he was down a pianist. In 1981, his first appearance at the Paris Jazz Festival left the audience at the Théâtre de la Ville in shock, a new star of the piano was born.

A collection of Petrucciani’s most memorable performances at The Montreux Jazz Festival from 1990 - 1998, fans of the legendary jazz pianist can relive some of his biggest recordings on Michel Petrucciani: The Montreux Years. Encapsulating his time at the festival, the release opens with 1997’s “35 Seconds of Music and More” and “Estate” from the 1982 album of the same name. Delving further into Petrucciani’s repertoire, Michel Petrucciani: The Montreux Years includes the 1991 hit “Rachid” and “Little Peace in C for U”. 

Available on pre-order now and released on Friday 7 April, Michel Petrucciani: The Montreux Years is the ninth instalment of The Montreux Years series, which began with musical titans Nina Simone and Etta James, followed by Marianne Faithfull and Muddy Waters, John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Monty Alexander and Paco De Lucía. Having received critical acclaim worldwide, ‘Nina Simone: The Montreux Years’ and ‘John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years’, reached #1 on the UK Official Jazz & Blues Chart in 2021 and were hailed by the likes of the New York Times and JazzFM. 

Pre-order the album here montreuxyears.lnk.to/michelpetruccianiPR