Jacques Schwarz-Bart

Jacques Schwarz-Bart was born in Guadeloupe. His parents are both widely acclaimed writers. His father André won the Goncourt award and his mother wrote several jewels of Caribbean literature. After graduating from the French School of Government (Sciences Po Paris), Jacques has been working for the French Senate. He was seemingly destined to a career as a statesman. But another path had been shaping up in the same time: a path of music and mysticism. Jacques discovered African mysticism through Gwoka Music. The ceremonies called Lewoz took place at night in the darkness of the country side in sugar cane fields, where rhythms and chants emote a spiritual call.

He is a leading pioneer in the creation of two surging new styles: Gwoka Jazz, and Voodoo jazz, reuniting jazz music with its Afro-Caribbean and spiritual origins. Jacques’ impressionistic writing, powerful tone, and wide-ranging language – both lyrical and angular – have fueled a growing presence on the world stage.

After playing alongside such luminaries as Roy Hargrove, Danilo Perez, Ari Hoenig, Meshell N’Degéocello, D’angelo or Chucho Valdés, Jacques finally decides to follow his own vision as a band leader.

Jacques will release a new album trio "Resistance" with drummer Arnaud Dolmen and bassist Reggie Washington.

Worldiwe release - September 18th, 2026 

Some albums are born of necessity. Resistance — Jacques Schwarz-Bart’s new trio album — is one of them. Not an abstract manifesto, not a stylistic exercise : an act.
The musical response of a man to the times he lives in, from the city where he lives, with musicians he has trusted for over twenty years.

Jacques Schwarz-Bart lives in Boston. Faced with the resurgence of authoritarianism at the heart of Western
democracies, he chooses one response : to transform anxiety into serenity.



“When Trump came back to power, I immediately understood what was happening. I could sink into depression, or — through my art — find a source of serenity with those who share my concern. Music is our superpower.”



His father, André Schwarz-Bart, was the youngest member of the French Resistance. With his mother Simone, he wrote La Mulâtresse Solitude, a novel dedicated to a great figure of resistance against slavery in Guadeloupe.

Between resistance to fascism and the struggle against colonial oppression, a lineage emerges — one that Jacques Schwarz-Bart carries, and intends to pass on to his son.



"I feel like the bearer of this torch — which I am trying, in my turn, to hand to my son." 



For this project, Jacques Schwarz-Bart made a deliberate choice : 
a formation without harmonic instruments — tenor saxophone, double bass, drums. 
No piano, no guitar. 

An act of structural freedom that opens a radical space for improvisation.