Airelle Besson - Lionel Suarez: Two Breathing Instruments

It’s not often that you see a trumpet and an accordion performed as a duo. Yet both instruments share something essential: in both, air produces the sound. Airelle Besson controls it with her breath; Lionel Suarez with the bellows. This allows notes to be sustained, to swell, or to almost fade away. This commonality shapes the sound of their duo.
Besson and Suarez have known each other for more than twenty years. They first met while working on Laurent Cugny’s jazz opera *La Tectonique des nuages*. Later, both were members of the Quarteto Gardel, which was dedicated to the music of tango singer Carlos Gardel. So when they formed a duo in 2016, it wasn’t the beginning of a collaboration between two strangers. They already had many concerts, rehearsals, and shared musical experiences behind them.
Airelle Besson’s tone stands out immediately. It sounds clear, focused, and at times almost weightless. She began playing the trumpet at age seven, also learned the violin, and received training in both classical and jazz music. At the Paris Conservatory, she won first prize in jazz. She has performed with Charlie Haden and Carla Bley, among others, led her own ensembles, and written brass arrangements for the British band Metronomy. In 2015, she was honored as a “New Instrumental Discovery” at the Victoires du Jazz.
Lionel Suarez learned to play the accordion both on the dance floor and at the conservatory. You can hear the influence of both in his playing. French chanson, jazz, and music from Brazil and Argentina are all part of his musical background. He has worked with Claude Nougaro, Charles Aznavour, Richard Bona, and Didier Lockwood; written for theater and film; and draws on the full sonic range of his instrument: melody, harmony, and rhythm all lie within his two hands.
In 2026, their first collaborative album, *Blossom*, was released. Alongside their own compositions, it features pieces by Carla Bley, Pat Metheny, and Lyle Mays. Some tracks trace back to earlier theater and film projects. One preserves the memory of a foggy day in Kyoto. After more than twenty years together, this duo album therefore does not start from scratch. It brings together paths, places, and music that have long connected the two of them, distilling them down to their essence with just the trumpet and accordion.