1968 - Life-long decision

The first real concert I ever saw was Ray Charles in Differdange. I was 12 years old. The incredible music this legend performed and his stage presence moved me to my very soul, and I knew from that moment on I would be a professional musician.

1986 - Share the knowledge

All of my recognised musical studies were at classical conservatories. For my jazz education I had to find ways to educate myself. I went to workshops, spent hours transcribing jazz solos, went to every jazz concert I could afford, sat in on jam sessions, spent hundreds of nights at Pols jazz club in Brussels hoping for a chance to perform with the international jazzmen who played there. So the founding of the Jazz Department, in the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, in 1986, was my contribution towards making jazz education more accessible to the talented young musicians of Luxembourg.

1995 - Better than sex

The first Year of Culture, I was asked to conduct the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. Even better, I was asked to compose the work to be performed! As both a composer and conductor, this was a great opportunity. One hundred musicians make a wonderful sound! I wrote Suite for Luxembourg, a suite with four movements for orchestra, jazz quintet and four soloists. This was one of the OPL's first outdoor concerts, on the Place Guillaume. For an audience of 80,000 people!

2002 - Emotion

I have been a member of the SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Editors) since I started composing for my first band, the Luxembourg Jazz 5. There are several different levels of membership. The highest being "Sociétaire Définitif" (there are only 250 in all of France, from over 110,000 members). I was awarded this status in 2002, the first Luxembourgian to receive it, and it was a huge acknowledgement for me from my fellow composers. At almost the same time, I was signed to Warner Jazz in London with my group LARGO. What a great year!

2004 - Dreams come true

I began the realisation of a life-long dream. I started my own record company with three labels: WPRjazz, WPRmusic and WPRoutrageous. This company was created to support the creators and young musical innovators of our area. Because they are innovators, these young musicians don't fit in the marketing "box" of the large record companies, and are seldom given a platform for their creations. It was important to me to contribute to the evolution of jazz in this way. And we have proven that there is a market for these creators as we now have distribution for them in all of Europe, Japan, and Korea.