GleAM Records is proud to announce the release of Kaveriot Korridor, the debut album by French trumpeter Jean-Baptiste Rousseaux. The album features Rousseaux in a trio with Konrad Waldert on bass and Gianbattista Di Genio on drums, with Canadian guitarist Alex Goodman—one of the leading figures of today’s New York jazz scene—appearing as a guest on two tracks.

“Kaveriot Korridor, as well as most of the music contained within it, was composed in Belarus during a three-week journey. The trio format—without any harmonic instrument (except for the tracks featuring guitar)—offers each musician a distinctive space, encouraging dialogue and interaction. The frequencies produced by the three instruments create a delicate sonic balance that highlights subtle details. Within this particular aesthetic, the compositions—written specifically for this ensemble—are interpreted like a narrative, almost a fairy tale, moving through virtuosic trumpet passages, generous or tragic ballads, and simple, delicate melodies, sometimes nearly innocent in character.” Jean-Baptiste Rousseaux

Jean-Baptiste Rousseaux Biography

Jean-Baptiste Rousseaux is a French trumpeter, musician, and composer. Born in Clermont-Ferrand in 2001 into a family of musicians, he discovered the trumpet at the age of six and later pursued studies in both classical music and jazz. During his youth, his remarkable musical talent already gave him the opportunity to perform with leading figures of the French jazz scene such as Ibrahim Maalouf, Franck Nicolas, and Raphaël Imbert. He studied at the music school of Chamalières and at the conservatories of Clermont-Ferrand and Vichy, graduating with distinction as a classical trumpeter and obtaining his DEM diploma in 2019. After meeting the renowned jazz trumpeter Jim Rotondi, he moved to Austria to study with him at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree in 2023, he began a Master’s degree in composition with Ed Partyka. His graduation is scheduled for February 2026, for which Rousseaux composed an ambitious large-scale suite combining elements of classical music and jazz. During his studies in Austria, he represented the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz at the international jazz meeting of the International Association of Schools of Jazz in New York, and on two occasions at the international young jazz musicians meeting More Than Jazz in Udine. Alongside numerous concerts across Austria and Europe, he was a finalist at the Jazz Comp Graz in 2024. In 2025, he received two DownBeat Student Music Awards for his compositions in the Large Ensemble and Small Ensemble categories. The same year, he was awarded 3rd prize in the Jazz Division of the Ryan Anthony Memorial Trumpet Competition in Salt Lake City, USA. One of his main artistic projects is the Jean-Baptiste Rousseaux Trio. The present album marks the trio’s debut recording, offering a first glimpse into Rousseaux’s musical universe. He is also a member of the quintet Handmade, led by Serbian accordionist Marko Živadinović, and performs with the Styrian Improvisers Orchestra.

Track Descriptions

Airegin
This piece is a reimagining of the famous composition by Sonny Rollins. One might even speak of a “recomposition,” as this version deliberately moves far from the original. Only fragments of the original melody remain, while the form, the harmonic framework for the improvisations, and the overall structure have been thoroughly reworked. Particular attention was given to the contrapuntal writing between trumpet and bass, creating a continuous dialogue between the two voices. The piece thus stands as a tribute to the great jazz tradition of the 1950s—of which Rollins remains one of the last living giants—while embracing a personal approach shaped by influences from classical composition.

Degab
Most of the music on this album was composed during a journey to Belarus in the summer of 2024. This particular piece was born during a visit to a church, where the melody seemed to emerge almost on its own, in a moment of quiet contemplation. The atmosphere is noble and solemn. It evokes that particular beauty that can arise within tragedy—the feeling that sometimes lingers after a tragic play or an opera: a deep emotion in which gravity and elevation coexist. Kaveriot Korridor The title track draws inspiration from a childhood memory: the image of an old stone corridor, slightly hidden within a castle. Here, the corridor becomes a metaphor—the passageway of memories, ideas, encounters, and life itself. It is a corridor of time, where the years echo like distant footsteps, gradually leading to the creation of this first album.

Interlude – Clotilde
The poem Clotilde by Guillaume Apollinaire serves here as both an interlude and an introduction to the following piece. Like many of Apollinaire’s poems, it carries a dreamlike and slightly unreal atmosphere. This sense of the poetic and the surreal forms one of the central threads of the album.

Lyre Koliocienne
This poetic interlude leads into a piece whose title is a personal adaptation of the Russian term kolyosnaya lira, meaning “hurdy-gurdy.” The composition refers to the tradition of this ancient instrument, while evoking it through its Russian name. More broadly, it pays tribute to the sound world of the hurdy-gurdy and to the traditional music of central France. The piece also draws on childhood memories: that of this strange and mesmerizing instrument, whose upper body is often carved in wood and sometimes shaped like a human bust. In the middle of the piece, the trumpet cadenza—built around a low note that returns again and again—offers a modern interpretation of the drone traditionally played on the hurdy-gurdy.

Sileok
A light and playful piece full of surprises, Sileok revolves around a recurring refrain reminiscent of a traditional song. The contrasting sections—one might think of them as verses—venture into more virtuosic and unexpected musical territory. After the solos, the music unfolds through further surprises: loops, bursts of energy, sudden stops, and moments of strikingly lyrical melody follow one another, creating a constantly shifting musical landscape.

Là Où Les Toits Sont Bleus
The title literally means “There, where the roofs are blue.” It comes from an observation made during the journey to Belarus during which much of the album was written. In many towns and villages there, house roofs often appear in shades of blue or green—far more frequently than in other parts of Europe. From this simple observation, and from the urban landscapes colored by these hues, emerged this bright and carefree melody.

Emmêlées Ancolies
The oldest piece on the album, it was composed during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The recording of this album provided the first opportunity to hear it performed in a live musical setting. The guitar of Alex Goodman gives this version a particularly strong identity.

Duo Grave alla Rava
This ballad is dedicated to the great Italian jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava, another towering figure still active on the international scene. After an impressive introduction by Alex Goodman, the languid and lyrical melody unfolds. The music then opens into a dialogue: bass and guitar each take their turn improvising, allowing the piece to develop in a reflective and intimate atmosphere.

Goodbye
This piece by Gordon Jenkins, which has become a jazz standard, is arranged here for two trumpet parts recorded one after the other. The result is a simple dialogue between the two voices. This version is dedicated to Jim Rotondi.