LEÏLA OLIVESI Octet

French-Mauritanian pianist, composer, and conductor Leïla Olivesi experienced the joys of performing at a very young age, joining the P'tits Loups du Jazz ensemble at thirteen. Of Corsican and Mauritanian heritage, born in Moulin d'Andé, Normandy, Leïla Olivesi grew up immersed in the vibrant artistic and cosmopolitan atmosphere of her family, surrounded by the bandoneon of Astor Piazzolla, Nina Simone, and the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. She holds a doctorate in music and musicology and a degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne.

She also studied jazz piano, composition and orchestration at the conservatory and at the IACP (Institut d'Académie des Musiques Parisiennes). She studied music with Mulgrew Miller, Stéphane Belmondo, Manuel Rocheman, Bernard Maury, Héri Paredes, Christophe Dal Sasso, Carine Bonnefoy, Jean-Michel Bardez, Jacques Schneck, Laurent Cugny and Lionel and Stéphane Belmondo.

Award-winning Leïla Olivesi won the 2022 Django Reinhardt Prize, awarded by the French Jazz Academy, which recognizes the best musician of the year. A renowned composer, she received first prize at the Ellington Composers International Big Band Composition Competition in 2013, first prize for composition at the Sunside Trophies, Tremplin Jazz Île-de-France, La Défense, and several SACEM awards. Her band received first prize for best group at the Jazz à Montmartre competition and the Culture France Jazz Primeur Prize. Her albums have also received critical acclaim: CHOC Jazzmag and Indispensable Jazz News, Top Jazz Mezzo, Coup de cœur from the Académie Charles Cros, Télérama, Défi Jeunes Prize, among others. She was elected French Musician of the Year 2025 by Jazz Magazine.

She has collaborated with artists such as Jean-Charles Richard, Alex Terrier, Elisabeth Kontomanou, Manu Codjia, Emile Parisien, Jeanne Added, Magic Malik, Rick Margitza, Glenn Ferris, Stéphane Belmondo, Anne Paceo, David Binney, John Betsch, the Cuban salsa group Metiswing, Michel Pinheiro's African Salsa Orchestra, and Leon Parker, among others.

Francis Marmande wrote in Le Monde that "Leïla Olivesi composes for each timbre, each voice; she has them in mind and gives them back their freedom on stage. She stands out in the lineage of great conductors such as Mary Lou Williams, Carla Bley, and Maria Schneider…"