Jeux (games) completes the ambitious tenure of French pianist-composer Frédéric Maurin as the artistic director of the French Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ, founded in 1986 by Jack Lang, then the Minister of Culture) in a unique collaboration with the French contemporary Ensemble intercontemporain (EIC, founded in 1976 by Pierre Boulez). Maurin, throughout his tenure, aimed at opening future prospects for ONJ, and invited American sax player-composer Steve Lehman to collaborate with ONJ at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) on the Ex Machina (ONJ, 2023), matching spectral music and artificial intelligence.
Maurin attempted in the 14-movement Jeux “to break down the last wall (which was just waiting to fall) between jazz and contemporary music”, as well as between the respected institutions of
