Born in the cradle of Belgian Surrealism – La Louvière – in 1955, Michel MAINIL began his musical studies at an early age at the conservatory of La Louvière (saxophone, clarinet, theory, harmony). Frequenting local musicians and listening to records, he discovered jazz.

John Coltrane had a great influence on his musical development, in particular the albums “Blue Train” and “Afro Blue Impression”. Michel went to the jazz seminar at the Liège conservatory, where he worked with John Ruocco, Steve Houben, and Dennis Luxion.

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Already as a student he began playing with various groups, big bands, Trad jazz, African music and theatre. For several years, various groups of traditional jazz also appeal to him as clarinettist. He participates actively in the creation of the septet ” The Jazz Migrators ” with notably José Bedeur. He occurs and records regularly with the pianist Christian Leroy. He also played in France, the United Kingdom, Holland, Morocco, Poland and Quebec. He performed on several occasions in various festivals, in particular Liège and Brosella Jazz Festival. Also some concerts with the Roumanian singer Anca Parghel.

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