The cover of Baptiste Trotignon's new album Solo features a close-up of the French jazz star's hands, complete with gold wedding ring. More tellingly, the manner in which Trotignon's elegant fingers spread across the keyboard leaves you in no doubt that this is one of the most virtuoso artists of France's new jazz generation. A fact confirmed by a listen to the opening track which thrills with the atmosphere of an end-of-party as the last guests are departing, leaving you with the sound of happy laughter echoing in your ears. One listen to Urgences, the second track and you're hooked as Trotignon's fingers fly across the keyboards, the left hand defying velocity while the right hooks you in with its deft melody.

"What I was really interested in doing with this album was songs",says Trotignon,"so that naturally meant fitting myself around fairly short formats. You won’t find any grand piano solos à la Jarret on this album. There are moments when I launch into a bit of wilder jazz improvisation, but in my head I was really trying to keep everything very melodic, to work things so that the melody would appeal to everyone, not just jazz connoisseurs. What I really wanted to do was strike a balance between ‘scholarly’ music and naive melodies. It’s actually quite hard to define the limit between the two. If you don’t watch out it’s very easy to churn out insipid sentimental melodies!"

Trotignon's musical quest is one which may well trace its roots back to his parents' record collection, which featured both 70s rock and classical music. Young Baptiste began his own musical apprenticeship at the age of six, taking up violin lessons. But this was not the instrument for him. Two years later Baptiste gave up the violin and took up the piano instead, going on to study classical music. Then, by chance, he came across his first jazz album at the age of 14. This triggered an instant curiosity in the budding young musician who headed straight off to the Nantes media library to find out more about the jazz greats.

Trotignon hesitated between jazz and classical music for a while, but in the end swing won the day. "There were two basic things that attracted me to jazz," Trotignon explains, "I loved the whole improvisational side of things, the idea of playing notes where you’re not really sure where they come from. And secondly I loved the exciting, tribal feel of ‘swing’. For me there was a real link between that and the rock stuff I was listening to at the time like Led Zeppelin. I remember going out and buying this book of arranged jazz classics which I then played at home, adding in my own notes at random. It was only later that I learnt the rules of classical improvisation; I picked it up gradually really, one step at a time."

As young Monsieur Trotignon was devoting an increasing amount of time to his music career he was contacted by French film-maker Alain Corneau who cast him as a pianist in his film Le nouveau monde. Baptiste Trotignon, who was still a young unknown at the time, made an instant impact thanks to Corneau's film – while other actors put on a fairly poor show of piano mimes, he mastered his keyboard with obvious skill. This was hardly surprising given the intensive piano practice he was putting it at the time. "There was a period between the ages of 18 and 20 when playing the piano was all I did," recalls Trotignon, "I’d just got my own grand piano and I was still living with my parents at the time so I didn’t have to worry too much about earning a living. I spent ten hours a day at the piano. I was literally going to bed at 6 in the morning and getting up at 3 in the afternoon!"

One year later, just after his 21^st birthday, Trotignon left Nantes and relocated to Paris. Like Miles Davis on his arrival in New York, the budding young pianist soon realised that music institutions were not necessarily the best place to learn his trade. So, while attending the National Jazz Conservatoire National by day, Trotignon mixed with professional musicians by night, hanging out in legendary jazz hotspots on the Rue des Lombards. In 1997 he went on to form the jazz collective Nuits Blanches au Petit Opportun (named after the famous Parisian jazz club). Two years later Trotignon had already gone on to make a serious name for himself on the jazz circuit, performing with the likes of Archie Shepp, Eric Le Lann, Stéphane Belmondo and Sylvain Bœuf. Renowned as a talented sideman, Trotignon was soon in much demand on the international festival circuit, putting in appearances all the way from Nice and Montreux to Marciac and La Villette.

Meanwhile, Trotignon went on to form his own trio, teaming up with Tony Rabeson (on drums) and Nicolas Clovis (on double bass). The trio went on to release two highly acclaimed albums, Fluide and Sightseeing, which established Trotignon as one of the most exciting jazz pianists of his generation. Critical recognition soon followed. In 2001 Trotignon scooped the "Django d’or" award for "most promising debut album" and the National Jazz Academy also declared him "Musician of the Year." The following year the gifted young pianist went on to win the international Martial Solal award and a few months later he triumphed again at the "Victoires du Jazz" awards where he was crowned "Best French Newcomer of the Year."

Such a flurry of awards so early in a career could well have gone to Trotignon's head – after all, it's not always easy to live up to the title of "promising young talent"! Trotignon takes a fairly laidback attitude to his award-studded mantelpiece, however. "I consider the prizes I’ve received to date as a huge encouragement," he says, "but they’re not something I’ve ever consciously worked towards. I’m aware that my career’s on a bit of an up at the moment; when you get round to recording a third album, it’s like you’re officially accepted into the system. Even if the jazz market is a pretty small one overall, you have a certain image and you represent a certain financial interest – and that ends up putting a certain pressure on you! But the important thing is to never lose sight of where you’re going with your music. "

Trotignon has his eyes firmly fixed on the horizon with his new album, Solo, an album which he describes as being "born of desire" and the "little repertoire" he'd been slowly building up over the years. "I’ve always really admired those pianists in the classical music world who’ve established this sort of carnal relationship with the instrument," he says, "All I'm doing - within the limit of my own humble possibilities – is doing the best I can to draw the best from this damned instrument!" This means virtuoso, but never over-demonstrative performances, Trotignon deploying such a fine, sensitive fingering of the keyboard that even the most violent passages are rendered without aggression. But make no mistake about it, Trotignon's calm is only skin-deep. When he launches into tracks such as My Lane his left hand skips frenetically after the right in a series of elaborate twists and turns. As for Rash, the penultimate track on Solo, this is a veritable three-minute masterpiece where Trotignon's playing alternates between wild maelstroms and deliciously controlled showers of notes.

These days Baptiste Trotignon is a man firmly in control of his career, too. "There used to be a time," he recalls, "when I was playing with ten groups on a regular basis. But there came a point when I decided to cut down a bit so I could concentrate on my own music. I still perform with my trio, of course, and with Moutin Réunion (Louis and François Moutin in the rhythm section and Rick Margitza on sax). In fact, we’re going to be recording an album together in May which should come out this autumn. Those are the essential things in my life right now, but I don’t rule out the idea of working as a sideman every now and then." Meanwhile, don't miss the opportunity to catch Baptiste Trotignon in concert solo. If you do you'll understand the significance of his simple album cover – this man is married to his piano!

Baptiste Trotignon Solo (Naïve 2003)