Martial Solal

Martial Solal (born August 23, 1927 in Algiers, Algeria) is a French jazz pianist and composer, who is probably most widely known for the music he wrote for Jean-Luc Godard's debut feature film À bout de souffle (1960).

Solal was the son of an opera singer and piano teacher, who learnt the instrument from the age of six, settling in Paris in 1950. He soon began working with leading musicians including Django Reinhardt and expatriates from the United States like Sidney Bechet and Don Byas. He formed a quartet (occasionally also leading a big band) in the late 1950s, although he had been recording as a leader since 1953. Solal then began composing film music, eventually providing over twenty scores. [1]