A few biographical entries
Olivier Bou was born in eastern France in 1965. He started playing music professionally at age 15. He got a B.A from the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris in 1989. He traveled to the US for the first time in 1990. While visiting New Orleans he joined a band on Bourbon street during the Carnival season. After moving back to France in 91, he began playing clubs in Paris as well as booking bands for the Sing-Song jazz club in the Bastille area. In 1993, Olivier moved back to New Orleans to make it his home. He started leading his own band, working around town in clubs and hotels.
In 1996 came out A Moment of Peace, his first recording (with M.Pellera, J.Singleton, J.Vidacovich). Olivier Bou's reputation as a stylish jazz vocalist and saxophone player became well established after the release of this first album. He held a weekly engagement at the Westin Hotel with Blue Note recording artist Steve Masakowski on guitar and James Singleton on bass for two years. The same trio performed for Mikhail Gorbatchev during his 1997 visit to New Orleans.
In 1998 Bou was hired by director Steve Tyler to read Degas' letters for a TV documentary on Degas in New Orleans: "Edgar Degas in New Orleans: A Creole Sojourn".
The idea to record an "all French" album came to Bou after performing at an event for the Alliance Française in New Orleans. The audience that night was predominantly French and requested songs in French. After Playing La Mer, Que reste-t-il de nos amours and Les Feuilles Mortes, Olivier Bou soon ran out of French songs. Coming home that night he decided to develop his own repertoire of jazz tunes in French.
He later realized that even people who didn't speak French seemed to enjoy the French tunes when he played them in clubs, and he decided to put them on a record.
Olivier Bou performs regularly at local festivals, jazz clubs and he has done small tours in Canada and France.