" Sylvia Versini shows the full range of her versatility as a band leader through the repertory of her octet. Musicians who influence her are Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Carla Bley and her sources of inspiration go from motherhood, wild creativity, doubt and love. "

The eight experienced musicians play arresting and varied jazz influenced by swing, Latin-American rhythms, free-jazz, while adding their own improvisations. Sylvia Versini’s compositions are  spontaneous and as well as reflective and reveal themselves through very personal arrangements, while at the same time she manages to create the sound of a big band.

Quote Jean-Paul Richard, the artistic director of the AJMI (Association for Jazz and Improvised Music): “Sylvia has a great ability to magnify her sound in a manner that makes her small band sound like a big orchestra.  Broken Heart, the first album by the Sylvia Versini Octet, produced under the Séries Ajmi label, was created with great confidence and enthusiasm. (see also article and photos on Citizenjazz.com, articles published in Jazzman, Jazz Magazine, and the artist’s site).

Sylvia Versini is of Corsican, West Indian and Italian origin.  She follows in the steps of her  grandmother Finotte, a Creole piano-player with the famous orchestra of Alexander Stellio. At the age of fourteen Sylvia starts playing jazz under the guidance of Michel Sardaby. This is followed by musical studies at the Monaco Academy and the Conservatoire in Nice. At the end of four years of  studying musical arrangements at the Bercovitz Music School, and perfecting harmony with Bernard Maury, she starts her own first jazz and funk formations. From 1990 onwards she decides to concentrate on the creation of her group, the Sylvia Versini Octet.