Nicolas Genest began playing blues harmonica before studying trumpet at the Conservatoire de Musique de Châteauroux. In 1986, he moved to Paris and soon began playing with a number of musicians.
He perfected his art with the great names:
Fascinated by Indian music, he began studying the mûrali flute in 1992 with Sylvie Lecerf (disciple of N. Ramani), then with Shaymal Maïtra (tablas). In 2009, he turned to the baroque trumpet under the guidance of Joël Lahens and Jean-François Madeuf.
Nicolas Genest has played and/or recorded with John Clayton, Chris Potter, Henri Texier, Aldo Romano, Hadouk
trio, René Urtreger, Claudine François, Antoine Hervé, Didier Lockwood, Glenn Ferris, André Ceccarelli,
Daniel Humair, Richard Galliano, Julien Lourau, Andy Emler, Laurent Cugny, Arthur H, Jimmy Cliff and also
worked with many illustrious African musicians: Manu Dibango , Lionel Louéké, Alpha Blondy,
Femi Kuti, Mayra Andrade, Paco Sery, Brice Wassy.
As a guest soloist, he has taken part in the recording of some 100 CDs, DVDs and film soundtracks.
1994: Amazonia (Nicolas Genest Quartet & Eric Barret- Panonica Records/ Harmonia Mundi )
2001: Hati (Nicolas Genest - La Lichère/ Night and Day)
2006: Lékéré (Nicolas Genest - Zzz't Productions-Cristal Records/ Abeille Music)
2012: Sur les bords du Gange (Nicolas Genest & Hati - Plus loin music/ Harmonia Mundi)
2015: A long lone way (Nicolas Genest & Yvan Robilliard - Cristal Records/ Harmonia Mundi)
2025: Danhomey songs (Nicolas Genest & guests - Pure Capture)
1993: 1st soloist prize at the Concours International de Jazz de La Défense
1995: nominated for Best 1st album at the Django d'Or awards with "Amazonia".
1996: Django d'Or for the album "Julien Lourau Groove Gang",
1999: Victoire de la Musique for the Groove Gang album "City boom boom".
Nicolas Genest has played in over 50 countries:
- In the UK: he has performed at the Barbican Center and the famous Ronnie Scott's jazz club.
- In Europe: he has played in Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
- Asia: India, Japan, Middle East (Lebanon, Syria)
- America: USA (New Orleans Jazz festival, & at the French Embassy in Washington
Canada (Festival International de Jazz de Montréal)
Brazil (Bahia, Sao Paulo), Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico
- Africa: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo,
Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Ethiopia,
Madagascar, Comores, and of course many times in Benin.
Nicolas Genest was a Selmer Artist from 1992 to 2010. Thanks to his in-depth knowledge of the trumpet
and his expertise, he was chosen to collaborate with this illustrious brand of wind instruments to
design new trumpets and flugelhorns with Selmer engineers.
In 2006, Nicolas Genest and the Archimusic ensemble launched a week-long cultural event in Montreuil, which in 2010 became the Festival Jazz Métis de Montreuil, organized by the Fanphant Music association. Producer, programmer and artistic director of the festival until 2020, Genest relies on public and private support (Mairie de Montreuil, Spedidam, Citizen Jazz, etc.).
The first edition of the festival took place in 2011 in a montreuillois loft, welcoming 50 to 200 spectators in an intimate atmosphere, until its last edition in 2019. The festival is cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, which marks its end.
Guest artists over the 10 editions have included Magic Malik, Leïla Martial, Patrick Bebey, Minino Garay, Macha Gharibian, Naïssam Jalal, Méderic Collignon, and of course Nicolas Genest with his various projects.