Simon Moullier

Born and raised in Nantes, a cultural center of western France, Moullier came to the US to study at Berklee, where renowned trumpeter and professor Darren Barrett recorded two albums with his Trumpet Vibes band to showcase Moullier. He earned a master's degree from the elite Thelonious Monk Institute in 2018 while studying with jazz legends Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Billy Childs and made his SFJAZZ debut as a featured soloist in Terri Lyne Carrington’s 2023 multimedia presentation Seem/Unseen.

With five albums as a leader, Moullier has honed a rhythmically assertive and melodically charged approach with a close cadre of collaborators. He’s performing with the same band featured on his new Candid Records album, Elements of Light, with South Korean drummer Jongkuk Kim and pianist Lex Korten, a prized young rhythm section tandem employed by more than a dozen bandleaders in recent years. Prolific Montreal-reared bassist Rick Rosato, who’s anchored Moullier’s quartet for the past two years, rounds out a band that’s at the center of New York’s creative ferment.