Jean-Michel Regoin
career
“Quintans is a discovery, and we must quickly take an interest in this musician (…). His guitar is not a gun, it is rather a wave propagator. An atomic blast, invisible and formidable. Because this is what we think of (…) a sort of post-nuclear apocalypse, with the necessary amount of radiation. » Franpi, SunShip Jazz Blog 2018, about SunDome (Clean Feed Jazz).
A native of Vigo, Spain (1975), Santiago holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Guitar and a Master’s Degree from the University of Miami (USA) as well as a Master’s Degree in Musicology (focusing on the rôle of the electric guitar on contemporary music) from Université Paris 8 (France). In 2004 he moves to Paris and becomes an active member of the new music/improvisation scene. He has written music for contemporary music ensembles, dance companies and as a performer he has worked with some of today’s leading figures in Jazz and contemporary music (Kenny Wheeler, Tony Malaby, Paul Rogers, Maria Schneider, Daniel Humair). He has performed emblematic pieces such as Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, orchestral contemporary works such as Peter Eötvös "Seven" and has appeared internationally in Festivals such as Europa Jazz, Montreux or Imaxinasons. Since 2015 he a faculty member at the Conservatoire Nationale de Musique et Dance in Paris.
As a leader, he leads projects with Jano Rix, Matthieu Donarier, Stéphane Kerecki among others. Regarding the creation of his latest project at the RDV de l'Erdre Festival in Nantes, Lion's Mouth (with Liudas Mockunas, Sebastien Boisseau and Ramon Lopez), Citizen Jazz speaks of a “frontal, firepower” formation that left the listeners transported ”. His records, warmly received by critics, are published by Clean Feed, Creative Sources or Free Code Jazz: his solo ARK, “presents the intimate relationship that the musician maintains with sound in its physical dimension” (Nicolas Dourlhès), and, in “Espadas Como Labios”, duet with Ramon Lopez, “Santiago Quintans favors discretion without ever overplaying” (Citizen Jazz).
Equally active as a composer, Santiago receives writing commissions from various ensembles in France and abroad (Density 93, Offrandes, Vertixe Sonora Ensemble, Orchestra Unisinos, etc.), dance companies (Proyecto Babel) and conservatories. His music is edited by Babel Scores. His taste for interdisciplinary work and experimentation also led him to large-scale artistic projects (“Loud City”, in 2015, created a living installation of 200 guitarists making a city “speak”), or the world of music research, where, as a specialist in contemporary electric guitar, he publishes numerous articles in journals / journals of musicology (Apparatus, Espacio Sonoro, International Journal of Musicology).