A trio of a rare line-up (flute, electric harp and drums) made its impromptu debut in 2020 and has already received the attention of jazz producers and enthusiastic acclaim for its work, both in France and abroad. The group was taken under the wing of the Europe Jazz Network (EJN) when Nout won the Zenith Award, co-founded by the EJN and the 12 Points Festival, and supported by the Creative Europe program.

Launched in 2019, the Zenith Award aims to highlight the most promising ensembles and soloists in contemporary jazz and improvised music and to boost their careers in Europe, thus contributing to the development of European jazz. Last year, Nout introduced itself to 400 music professionals at the European Jazz Conference in Marseille. EJN has pledged to support at least five more performances by the trio in the member countries of the jazz network.

The winner of the Zenith Award is chosen based on creativity and originality, and selected from the 12 Points Festival’s participants representing different European countries. You can’t take creativity and originality away from Nout. Described as the missing chain between Nirvana and Sun Ra, the trio is exploring the limits of their instruments with unbridled passion. These musicians can be angry and funny, fragile and frantic, but they always remain precise and interesting.

It is not for nothing that they named their ensemble after Nut, the Egyptian goddess of the sky. Nout’s musicians like to switch from day to night, playing music influenced by jazz, noise, electro and classical music. The musicians themselves liken their work to a scenario full of unexpected twists and turns, taking the listener here to a cinema hall, there to a tempestuous dancefloor.

Flutist Delphine Joussein is known as an inventive, fiery improviser and prolific composer. Nout is at the centre of her work, but Delphine also plays in many other groups, including Boolvar, Bastille, Abats and Pimprenelle. She is an active collaborator with the Gibantonium label, where the Nout EP was released this year.

Harpist Rafaëlle Rinaudo never intended to become a soloist in a symphony orchestra. Her search for new experiences led her early on to improvisation. While still a student, she became involved in the underground scene, experimenting with the electric harp expanded by a variety of attachments.

Rafaëlle is an associate artist of the Plages Magnétiques platform for contemporary music and participates in various projects of this institution. The harpist travels through a wide range of styles, from learned music to spontaneous creations, rock and electro.

Drummer Blanche Lafuente gave up theatre studies for jazz. In 2014, she dived into free improvisation, forming the duo Qonicho Ah! with French saxophonist and clarinettist Morgane Carnet.

The drummer frequents The Instants Chavirés, an experimental music and contemporary art venue in the suburb of Paris. She collaborates with theatre and dance professionals, poets, ethno-musicians, Olivier Benoit’s ensemble Electron, and experiments with her own group Mamiedaragon.