One of the Fest Jazz audience’s favorite musicians! Coming from a family of musicians (his father is the magnificent saxophonist Olivier Franc), Jean Baptiste Franc, a swing, stride, and blues pianist, has an impressive career.

Nicknamed “Little Fats” by Fats Waller’s guitarist, Al Casey, he won first prize at the international stride piano competition organized by the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in May 2018.

He has already had the privilege of playing with Arwell Shaw, Louis Armstrong’s double bassist, and received encouragement from Wynton Marsalis and Monty Alexander for his first CD, recorded with Count Basie’s drummer, Duffy Jackson.

In 2010, he recorded an album of original compositions with Melody Federer in Hollywood, produced by singer Pat Boon. On October 24, 2015, he performed at the Olympia with Daniel Sidney Bechet’s orchestra and his father, Olivier Franc.