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Photo ©Jean-Baptiste Millot
Sophia Domancich began her musical studies at the age of six. She graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with a first prize in piano and a first prize in chamber music.
She teaches at the Conservatoire du Xe arrondissement in Paris, and at the same time plays with the Afro funk group led by Ivorian guitarist and singer Déka Koma, and the Alafia orchestra led by Beninese musician Phil Mandounou.
She discovered jazz and improvisation with Steve Lacy and Laurent Cugny, who invited her to join his big band Lumière. She went on to collaborate with English musicians such as John Greaves, Elton Dean, Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle.
From 1991 onwards, Sophia Domancich played her own compositions in a trio with Paul Rogers and Tony Levin. This collaboration lasted eight years, and four albums were released. At the same time, she performed regularly as a solo artist.
From 1997 to 2000, his participation in the Orchestre National de Jazz conducted by Didier Levallet marked the start of an increasingly busy career, both on stage and in the studio. She has performed with Éric Barret, Ramon Lopez, Paul Dunmall, Riccardo Del Fra, Jean-Louis Méchali, Jeanne Lee, Claude Barthélémy, Michel Édelin, Joëlle Léandre, Steve Potts, Evan Parker and others.
In 2001, she called on Claude Tchamitchian, Simon Goubert, Michel Marre and Jean-Luc Cappozzo to form the Pentacle quintet, whose first album was released in 2003 on the Sketch label.
In 2002, Sophia Domancich reunited with J. Greaves in a trio with Vincent Courtois; they recorded Trouble with happiness, released in 2003 on the Le Chant du Monde label.
In 2003, she joined the group Soft Bounds, in which she was joined by S. Goubert, as well as E. Dean and H. Hopper, former members of the legendary Soft Machine. That same year, France-Musique commissioned her to write a piece for the Alla Breve programme. In collaboration with Raphaël Marc, she produced De 3H à 5H, and Lilienmund, a piece for piano and electro-acoustics, premiered at Radio France as part of the Présence festival. Lilienmund was recorded on the Sans Bruit label.
Apart from the Pentacle quintet, of which she is leader - albums Pentacle (2003) and Triana moods (2006) - three albums have been released by the trio DAG, which she forms with Jean-Jacques Avenel on double bass and S. Goubert on drums - with whom she has performed as a duo since 2006 (the album You don't know what love is was released in 2007). She is also a member of the group A riot called Nina, led by Napoleon Maddox, and the quintet Steve Potts & Family.
In 2009, she formed a trio with Hamid Drake and William Parker and recorded Washed away, and in 2011 Courte pointe with Andrew Cyrille and Mark Helias. Also in 2011, she recorded Snakes and ladders, an atypical album featuring Himiko Paganotti, J. Greaves and Robert Wyatt.
In 2013 she joined the group African Jazz Roots, led by Ablaye Cissoko and S. Goubert.
Since 2017, Sophia Domancich can be found in the group Révolution, led by François Corneloup, as well as with a trio led by Denis Charolles, in the company of Christiane Bopp.
In 1999, Sophia Domancich was the first woman to be awarded the Prix Django Reinhardt by the Académie du jazz.
SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY
Leader :
"Funerals" (1991)
"Rêve de singe" (1993)
"L'année des treize lunes (1995)
"La part des anges" (1997)
"Pentacle" (2003)
Pentacle : "Triana moods" (2007)
“Snakes and ladders” (2010)
"Alice's evidence" (2016)
Pentacle : "en hiver comme au printemps" (2017)
Solo :
"Rêves familiers" (1999)
"SO" (2017)
“le grand jour” (2021)
Co-leader :
John Greaves/Vincent Courtois/Sophia Domancich :" The trouble with happiness " – (2003)
Elton Dean/Sophia Domancich : "avant" – (2005) (USA et G-B)
"Soft Bounds" – (2005)
Sophia Domancich/Jean-Jacques Avenel/Simon Goubert : "DAG" – (2006)
Sophia Domancich & Simon Goubert :"You don't know what love is" – (2007)
Sophia Domancich/Raphaël Marc : "Lilienmund" - (2008)
Sophia Domancich/Jean-Jacques Avenel/Simon Goubert "DAG" : "Free 4 DAG" – (2009)
Sophia Domancich/William Parker/Hamid Drake : “Washed away” - (2009)
Sophia Domancich/Marc Helias/Andrew Cyrille : "Courte pointe" - (2012)
Sophia Domancich/Paul Dunmall/Tony Levin/Mark Levin : "Golden Ocean" - (2012)
Sophia Domancich/Jean-Jacques Avenel/Simon Goubert "DAG" : "Upcoming summer" - (2013)
Sophia Domancich & Simon Goubert : "Twofold Head" – (2021)
Également :
Pip Pyle "Equip Out" (1986) — Alain et Yvon Guillard: "Pazapa" (1987) — Trio Davenport (1988) — John Greaves "La petite bouteille de linge" (1990) — Lydia Domancich: “Au-delà des limites” (1990) — Equip'out "Up" (1990) — Bruno Tocanne "Odessa" (1994) — Peter Gritz "Thank you to be" (1994) — John Greaves "Songs" (1994) — Elton Dean "Silent knowledge" (1996) — Paul Rogers "Time of brightness" (1997) — ONJ Didier Levallet "ONJ express" (1997) — Stefano Maltese "Living alive" (1999) — Eric Barret "New Shapes" (1999) — ONJ Didier Levallet "Séquences" (1999) — ONJ Didier Levallet "Deep feelings" (2000) — Simon Goubert "Désormais" (2001) — Hatfield and the North "Live"(DVD) (2002) — Stella "Le cœur allant vers" (2004) — Simon Goubert "et après" (2005) — Ramon Lopez "Flowers of peace trio" (2005) — Simon Goubert “Background” (2008) — African Jazz Roots "Au loin" (2017) — Bruno Tocanne “Sea songe” (2018) - François Corneloup "Révolution" (2019) — Michel Edelin "Echoes from Henry Cow" (2019) - Simon Goubert “nous verrons…” (2019)
