Léon Francioli

Léon Francioli (22 May 1946 – 9 March 2016) was a Swiss double bass player of creative jazz. Leon Francioli became famous in Switzerland as a Jazz player, after he started to work with Beb Guérin, Pierre Favre and George Gruntz in the 70s. In 1979, he played for the soundtrack of les petites figures. In 1981, he established the group Sunnymoon together with Werner Lüdi, Stephan Wittwer and Fredy Studer. He also played in 1980 in the albums of favre, Michel Portal and Jerry Chardonnens for Hathut Records. He played also in Trio with the trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff (Triple Entente, 1982) along with Jean-François Bovard. He founded in 1984 the Francioli-Bovard Orchestra and played in the Sextet of the pianist François Lindemann. In 1985 he became a member of the trio of the pianist Alex Theus. At the beginning of 90s, Francioli worked with Joe McPhee (Linear B) and Mario Schiano (And So On). In 2007, he appeared along with Alex Theus and Daniel Bourquin in the Schaffhausen Jazz Festival.