Didier Lockwood

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Didier Lockwood (born February 11, 1956) is a French jazz violinist.

He was born in Calais and studied classical violin and composition at the Calais Conservatory. However, his brother Francis made him receptive to forms of music other than the classical and he quit his studies in 1972. Didier was entranced by the improvisation of Jean-Luc Ponty on Frank Zappa's King Kong album and took up the amplified violin. He joined the progressive rock group Magma, touring and notable featured on their 1975 Live/Hhaï album. Lockwood was also influenced by Polish violinist Zbigniew Seifert and Stéphane Grappelli, whom he joined on tour.

He has also played with Quebecois fusion group Uzeb on their Absolutely Live album.

He is famous for exploring new musical environments and for performing various sound imitations on his amplified violin, such as seagulls or trains.

On July 23, 1982, in Montreux, Switzerland, he performed in concert with guitarist Allan Holdsworth, drummer Billy Cobham, bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, and keyboardist David Sancious.

Didier Lockwood created a string instruments improvisation school, CMDL (Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood), in 2001.

He has also composed several film scores, like Les Enfants de la Pluie.

He is married to singer Caroline Casadesus.

Throughout 2006 Didier has been touring with Martin Taylor the Jazz guitarist[1]. In these performances it is noticeable to see that he is very involved in improvisation.

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Didier Lockwood in concert (1992)