released January 11, 2015

Benoît Delbecq, piano
Miles Perkin, bass
Emile Biayenda, drums and percussions

All tracks by Benoît Delbecq (Sacem).

Recorded by Etienne Bultingaire at Studio de Meudon, July 2014, assisted by Julien Bassères. Mixed by Etienne Bultingaire and Benoît Delbecq at Plush Space Paris. Mastered by Djengo Hartlap at ArtLab Paris.

A big surprise for all those who thought that the first and only Benoît Delbecq’s project with the piano jazz trio format ended with the unfortunate death of bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel in 2014. Here comes again the formula debuted in 2010 with the album “The Sixth Jump”, now with Canadian, but Berlin-based, Miles Perkin playing the upright bass under Avenel’s influence, but with a voice of his own. Emile Biayenda, the Congolese drummer revealed by that first opus, stayed for more. Not more of the same, but taking to new grounds the ideas put into practice five years ago. As Fred Hersch (Delbecq’s partner in “Fun House”) writes on the liner notes, “INK” is a brilliant «collection of contradictions»: structure versus improvisational freedom, jazz versus non-jazz, mathematics versus deep feelings. As usual, the French musician applies his personal vision of the prepared piano, assembling the sound worlds of Gyorgy Ligeti and the African pygmies with the jazz tradition coming from Duke Ellington and continuing through Steve Lacy. The final results are pure joy, and Hersch, one of the most important pianists of our time, has no doubts – he calls Benoît Delbecq a genius.

_____ the musicians
Benoît Delbecq, piano, compositions. Lives in Bondy near Paris. Born 1966.
'One of today's most spellbinding music.'
Stéphane Ollivier in Jazz Magazine

Parisian pianist Benoît Delbecq is one of Europe’s most prominent pianists and composers. He has created a music of his own by combining the soul of jazz with the prepared piano techniques of John Cage. His reputation and influence hasn’t stopped growing since the early 90’s until the New York Times recently painted him as 'an original and unconventional pianist' who 'expertly invents' a 'serene music'.

As an inspired adventurer, a goldsmith of prepared piano and a visionary poet for recycling electronically his own statements, he actively participates to new aesthetical thrusts of today.

A former student of Mal Waldron, Muhal Richard Abrams and Steve Coleman among others, Benoît’s international array started around 1992 from Parisian cutting-edge club « Les Instants Chavirés », in parrallel to the founding of bands such as Kartet, The Recyclers and Hask Collectives which contributed to revitalize the Paris creative music scene. Since then Benoît has been touring around the globe.

He performs solo piano and solo electronics, leads and co-leads a number of bands from duos to quintets and is involved in many multi-disciplinary productions such as theater, dance, visual arts, poetry and cinema. His music features mesmerizing grooves that reveal the sparkle of lunar and undocile melodies. An invitation to a «voyage into a magic land » (Le Monde).



Miles Perkin, double bass. Lives in Berlin, Germany. Born 1980.

A Canadian bassist, composer, improvisor, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He uses a unique combination of conventional, extended and invented techniques along with unconventional tools to coax a vast palate of sounds from his double bass.

His main instrumental project is the Miles Perkin Quartet with French pianist Benoit Delbecq, British trumpet player Tom Arthurs, and Canadian drummer Jim Black (recording in July 2018). His songs and vocal work are at the forefront in 'Coal Oven' which is a Berlin based trio of Canadians. He has released 4 albums under his name, and has appeared on more than 30 other recordings.

Miles performs as a soloist and is a frequent creator of music for dance, theatre and film. He is currently in collaboration with director Armin Petras at the Staatstheater Stuttgart.

Along with his involvement in projects in the realms of jazz and improvised music (projects include: Benoit Delbecq 3, Glue trio with Tom Arthurs & Yorgos Dimitriadis, Thom Gossage Other Voices, Steve Raegele Trio), he also is a fixture in Montreal's pop/indie music scene (collaborations include: Lhasa de Sela, The Barr Brothers).


Emile Biayenda, drums and percussions. Lives in Angoulême, France. Born 1965.

Emile Biayenda and Delbecq played together for the first time in Libreville, Gabon, back in 1994. Delbecq had been spoken highly of Emile by Radio France producer Caroline Bourgine, and they went on a memorable France-meets-Africa tour under the name Jazz Mic Mac with camerounese bassist André Nkouaga and parisian trumpeter Serge Adam. At this time, Emile just had just returned from three months in the rainforest in order to be initiated by the Baka pygmies whose incredible music is profoundly linked to social rites. Emile leads the large percussion group les Tambours de Brazza since 1991, a group that is still today touring around the globe. Emile received an initiation to the Afro-american jazz through the means and disc collection of a Brazzaville pharmacist named Price, hence he mixed his village traditions adapted to the drum set with the mindful study of master drummers like Ed Blackwell or Max Roach.

This two-level initiation has made of Emile Biayenda one of the prominent master drummers of the African diaspora. A native of Congo-Brazzaville, he also lived in Namibia in the 90's, and is now settled with his family in Angoulême, France. He joined the Delbecq Unit with Mark Helias, Mark Turner and Oene Van Geel in 2003 soon after he settled in France (Delbecq Unit Phonetics – Songlines).