Winner of the Django Reinhardt Prize 2022 from the Académie du Jazz and named Artist of the Year, French-Mauritanian pianist, conductor, and composer Leïla Olivesi pays tribute to a poetic and imagined Africa with her new album African Rhapsody, due for release in October 2025. Performed by an octet featuring some of the finest musicians of her generation, this powerful declaration of love draws inspiration from the great voices of the Négritude movement — Léopold Sédar Senghor and Aimé Césaire — and is elevated by the ethereal voice of Camille Bertault and the Poetic Birds choir.

A pianist of both lyrical depth and structural finesse, Leïla crafts vast musical landscapes here, journeying from the light of the Sahara to the urban pulse of New York, weaving connections between Africa, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean.

Background and Training: Born at the Moulin d’Andé in Normandy to a Mauritanian father and a Corsican mother, Leïla grew up in an artistic and cosmopolitan environment, immersed in the sounds of Astor Piazzolla’s bandoneón, the voice of Nina Simone, and the music of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. She first tasted the joys of performance aged thirteen as part of the P’tits Loups du Jazz troupe.

Leïla holds a doctorate in music and musicology, as well as a degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne. Her formal training includes studies in jazz piano, composition, and orchestration at the conservatoire, alongside courses at the IACP. She has studied with renowned musicians such as Mulgrew Miller, Stéphane Belmondo, Manuel Rocheman, Bernard Maury, Christophe Dal Sasso, and Laurent Cugny.

1. African Rhapsody
2. Corsica
3. Wayne Left Town
4. Blue Chinguetti
5. Little African Flower
6. Joy
7. Aurore
8. Interlude : Afro Queen
Poetic Birds Suite
9. Les Nuits
10. Un Jour, Le Silence
11. New York