Martin Lejeune
Martin Lejeune is a freelance musician and electric guitarist based in Frankfurt am Main, where he has been active since the late 1990s. His musical path began as a self-taught guitarist, driven by a deep curiosity and passion for jazz. Later, he studied with European jazz master guitarist Wim Overgaauw at the Amsterdam School of Arts — an encounter that became an important influence on his development as a musician.
Martin grew up in a small town in southwest Germany, close to the borders of Belgium, Luxembourg and France — far away from any real jazz scene. As a teenager, he was hungry for every sound, every name and every recording he could discover. One of his windows into the world of jazz was Radio France, whose jazz programs he recorded on cassette tapes from an old tube radio and listened to over and over again.
He would carefully catch the names of artists announced by the French radio hosts, then go to the local record shop and ask for vinyl records by musicians such as John Coltrane or Django Reinhardt. The man behind the counter was often surprised to see a twelve-year-old so deeply fascinated by jazz. Among his friends, Martin was known as the “jazz nerd” who was better advised not to bring his tapes to the youth club — but for him, being different always felt completely natural.
One recording left a particularly lasting impression: a solo clarinet piece, performed without any accompanying instruments, only the sound of the clarinet and the musician tapping his foot. Martin had missed the beginning of the radio recording and did not catch the artist’s name, but he was immediately captivated by the smooth phrasing, the rhythmic depth and the way the musician explored harmony through a single improvised melody.
Many years later, Martin transcribed and analyzed that very recording and discovered it was by Jimmy Giuffre, the American West Coast jazz musician. Looking back, he realized that this early encounter had become a foundation for his own idea of sound, phrasing and expression as a jazz guitarist.
To this day, the piece still moves him deeply — even after listening to it countless times. Martin remains grateful for the opportunity to follow and develop this lifelong passion for music.