Christian Escoude

Christian Escoudé
Born	1947 Angoulême, Charente, France
Genres	Gypsy jazz, jazz fusion, world music
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Dreyfus, JMS, Nocturne, EmArcy, Sunnyside
Associated acts	Babik Reinhardt, David Reinhardt

Christian Escoudé (born 1947 in Angoulême, Charente, France) is a French Gypsy jazz guitarist. He grew up in Angoulême and is of Romani descent on his father's side. His father was also a guitarist who was influenced by Django Reinhardt. When Escoudé was ten, his father began teaching him the guitar, and he came a professional musician at age fifteen. His style is a mix of bebop and gypsy jazz influences, featuring the use of vibrato, portamento, and fast runs. He started work in a trio with Aldo Romano in 1972. By the 1980s, he was in John Lewis's quartet. He also played with Philip Catherine for a time. In his forties, he signed for the French division of Verve Records.

At the Jazz Inn, which he first played in 1972, he met the trio of Eddy Louiss, Bernard Lubat and Aldo Romano. Later, he joined Didier Levallet's Swing String System and the Michel Portal Unit. In 1976, l'Académie du Jazz awarded him the Prix Django Reinhardt. He then formed a new quartet with Michel Graillier, Aldo Romano, and Alby Cullaz, the latter soon replaced by Jean-François Jenny-Clark. He also worked with Michel Portal or Slide Hampton, Martial Solal and Jean-Claude Fohrenbach.

In 1978, he performed at the Festival de Nice with John Lewis, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, Philly Joe Jones, Lee Konitz, and Shelly Manne. The same year, he began a tradition of participating in the annual Festival de Samois, a tribute to Reinhardt. He performed in the Festival de Dakar in 1979 with the trio of René Urtreger, Pierre Michelot, and Daniel Humair.

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