Straight Horns

Created in 2020, this duo of reeds (Olivier Thémines – Henri Peyrous) with the singular work to collect, arrange, adapt, and memorize rare or little-played jazz pieces. Improvisation is also at the center of the project, the atypical formation allowing a free and fusional exchange of the musicians' voices. The duo’s first album, 'Fragments', recorded in spring 2022 at the Peninsula studio in Sarzeau, and released in December 2023, bears witness to a quarter of this collection which, over time, continues to grow.

Henri Peyrous
Henri Peyrous is a saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. Also a teacher and concert organizer, he seeks to deconstruct prejudices about jazz and to promote its multiple aesthetic facets to the public. He develops his musical writing within the Prospectus quartet (winner of the Euroradio Jazz Competition 2022 and Jazz Migration #9), the Clang trio, and the duo Straight Horns, which allow him to express his vision of an open and surprising jazz, directly linked to his practice of improvisation. He regularly performs in groups with more classical repertoires: Tree, Les Comtesses, Blue Jitters (ex-Swinguez Moustaches), as well as in the Latin-jazz quintet Curiadero led by guitarist Paul de Robillard.

Olivier Thémines
This musician, passionate about the diversity of jazz approaches and practices, performs in a wide variety of formats, which sweeps across a wide range of styles. In addition to his personal projects developed within the Frasques company (Olivier Thémines Trio, Ciné-concert "Comme un rêve", Johnny’s Scrapbook,...), the clarinetist has participated in many formations with multiple directions: Over The Hills (music by Carla Bley), X Tet by Bruno Régnier, MOB (Ornette’s music is beautiful), etc. His traveling companions include musicians John Tchicai, Sébastien Boisseau, Claude Tchamitchian, Denis Badault, René Bottlang, Jacques Mahieux, etc.
Currently, Olivier Thémines plays in the duo Straight Horns, of Pax (around the music of Andrew Hill), alongside Guillaume Hazebrouck for «En toute pyromanie», within the ensemble Continuo, a project that mixes jazz and baroque music. He is also working on a personal repertoire for wind quartet: Chirpin’ time.