Pierre CHABRELE aka « CHABS » : a trombone player… who’s also a singer, composer, arranger and multi-instrumental player: surely, this man has the gift of music…

After studying guitar and percussion in his native French West Indian Island of Martinique where he was born in 1962, Pierre picked trombone as his main instrument when he arrived in Paris, at 19.

Beside playing on the streets, he took trombone classes for 8 years with teacher Jacques Toulon, soloist for the Orchestre de Paris, at the Paris Conservatory of Music.

His talent was quickly acknowledged and he began an international career in 1986 in Monte Carlo, playing in the Broadway musical SHADE of HARLEM. From there, everything happened swiftly. He started lining up international tours with artists such as Ismaël LO, TOURE KUNDA, KASSAV, BIG BAND 31, Percy SLEDGE, CHANCE ORCHESTRA, ENZO ENZO, Raoul PAZ, KASSAV, Bernard ALLISON, Rido BAYONNE, GOSPEL for 100 Voices… Amongst many others.

Whatever the musical style, Jazz, World, Reggae, Gospel, Blues, Mainstream, this stylish zazou always had a taste for musical experimentation. His precise phrasing as well as his unique style and look made the man a success in the world of trombone players: everyone wanted him.

© Guy BENECH

Pierre recorded over 150 albums with Youssou N’DOUR, Alpha BLONDY, TOURE KUNDA, Baaba MAAL, ZAO, Rido BAYONNE, Brice WASSI, Hervé KRIEF’s Big Band etc…

In ’94, he’s set up his own band, « CLAN-DESTIN » within which he could play his own material, mostly Caribbean-Afro-Funk. Two years later, another project was seeing light: an Afro-Caribbean quintet called KALPATA.

Boney recruited him in 1999, enabling Pierre to use his song writing and arranging talents in the Bone’s Project’s repertoire. Today, Pierre is holding the trombone alternatively with Olivier Caron.