About: Michel De Villers

Michel De Villers (July 13, 1926, Villeneuve-sur-Lot - October 25, 1992, ) was a French jazz reedist and bandleader. De Villers learned to play alto saxophone as a teenager, and later expanded to clarinet and baritone saxophone. He played in the latter half of the 1940s with Jean-Claude Fohrenbach, Django Reinhardt and Rex Stewart, then joined the band in Paris. In the 1950s he worked in the bands of Geo Daly, Jack Diéval, André Persiany, and , and also played with touring American musicians such as Buck Clayton, Bill Coleman, Jonah Jones, and Lucky Thompson. In the 1970s he was less active as a musician, working as a jazz writer and radio screenwriter. In the 1980s he became active again as an educator and performer, working later in his career with Christian Garros, Pierre Michelot, Rog