A jack-of-all-trades, Boris Vian devoted his life to music and literature. His
sense of provocation, his convictions, his intransigence, his corrosive humor
and his boundless poetic imagination made him one of the outstanding figures of
the post-war period. A scientist by training (he graduated as an engineer from
Centrale), he was also a writer, trumpeter, jazz columnist, screenwriter, author
and composer, translator... To retrace his musical career is above all to
address his passion for jazz in all its aspects: "The three great moments of my
life were Ellington's concert in 19...