Biography
Jazz, classical, improvised or traditional world music... Not choosing means choosing to be free for double bassist and composer Leïla Soldevila, who explores diverse musical continents with curiosity as her compass.
"My instrument is rarely at the forefront, but it is a fundamental presence. The double bass is a pillar of the orchestra and it is also my backbone. Between it and me, it's body and soul!" says Leïla Soldevila, who discovered the power of low frequencies in her early twenties, after fifteen years of piano and hours listening to records by Henri Texier, Bojan Z, Kenny Wheeler, Count Basie, Ray Brown, Scott Lafaro, and Dave Holland. Encouraged by renowned teachers, the musician asserted herself through an academic career of excellence that took her, in classical and jazz, from the IMFP in Salon-de-Provence to the CNR in Lyon, from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague to the CNSMD in Paris, where she graduated with a Master's degree in “Jazz and Improvised Music” in 2013.
Although Leïla Soldevila is a child of the institution, she finds her balance in the infinite possibilities offered by the artistic life of the capital. Through a live and collective approach to music, she experiences diversity in jams, sessions, studio recordings, as well as numerous concerts and tours in many countries.
Spotted alongside renowned Moroccan oud player Saïd Chraïbi, Leïla Soldevila will soon reveal her talents at the heart of the traditional world music scene. In 2012, the double bassist joined the Kurdish group Nishtiman, then traveled throughout Eastern Europe under the direction of Iranian musician Mehdi Aminian on projects such as Roots Revival, which led her to play with the talented Lebanese singer Abeer Nehme. With her instrument as her compass, Leïla Soldevila also explores Russian music, Latin American rhythms, and even Réunionese maloya with the free jazz trance of Grand Sorcier. On the classical side, she plays in symphony orchestras and sometimes in chamber music ensembles. She also cultivates her connection with jazz, alongside renowned musicians such as Géraldine Laurent, Guillaume de Chassy, Steve Shehan, Frédéric Couderc, Sylvain Boeuf, Stéphane Payen, Baptiste Herbin, Olivier Hutman, Raphaël Imbert, Nicolas Folmer, David Enhco, Enzo Carniel, and Sophie Alour. In addition, she regularly collaborates on projects with artists Bruno Angelini and Pascal Charrier.
An insatiable explorer, Leïla Soldevila is involved in studying West African music, the mixed influences of Arab-Andalusian traditions at the Gennevilliers Conservatory under the direction of Rachid Brahim-Djelloul, and participating in multidisciplinary projects that combine dance, theater, literature, cinema, and painting, and by working with the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra on various creations with Fabrizio Cassol. Today, the double bassist shares the stage with Tunisian violinist Zied Zouari, notably in the trio Birds, Franco-Iranian singer Ariana Vafadari in the creations Gathas / 4 Femmes, Kurdish saz player and singer Ruşan Filiztek in the project Exils, and singer Noëmi Waysfeld in the projects Soul of Yiddish and Barbara. In the same vein as these artists, Leïla Soldevila moves freely between aesthetics and geographies, fully open to otherness. She is guided by a desire to share, discover, travel, and pass on her knowledge. It is in this spirit that she became involved in the DEMOS project of the Philharmonie de Paris, which works to make classical music accessible to children who are distant from culture through orchestral practice.
In 2021, Leïla Soldevila decided to form her own trio with Line&Borders, a repertoire that reflects her style, at the crossroads of different aesthetics: chamber music, (free) jazz, song, organic, electric and even electronic textures... Accompanied by Célia Forestier on vocals and Félicité Delalande on harp, the double bassist explores several registers to illustrate the turning points and metamorphoses of her career. A trio of sensitive strings, Line&Borders plays with silences and the vertigo of improvisation to invent a playful and daring dialogue.