Simon Comte

Born in Belgium in 2005 into a family of musicians, Simon Comte grew up immersed in a rich and eclectic artistic environment. Fascinated by the emotional power and infinite sonic range of the saxophone, he began his training at the age of seven. His teachers quickly recognized his artistic sensibility and precocious virtuosity, and encouraged him to perform on stage from a very young age. At just 14 years old, Simon achieved a remarkable milestone by joining the class of French soloist and professor Vincent David at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. The following year, he was also admitted to the Conservatory’s Jazz Department, becoming its youngest student ever. In 2023, at age 18, a new chapter began when he was admitted to the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York to study under American saxophonist and educator Jaleel Shaw. He also took classes in the master class of renowned tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover. That same year, he won a scholarship awarded by the Belgian American Educational Foundation Inc. (BAEF). His talent was further confirmed in competitions, including First Prize at the CeDel competition in Belgium in 2018; First Prize at the Paris Saxophone Competition in 2019; in 2022, he won the Leuven Jazz Contest with his European quartet; and then, in 2025, he received the American DownBeat Student Award for Best Group (trio). Simon Comte has already performed on prestigious stages: Carnegie Hall (New York), the Getxo International Jazz Festival, the Gent Jazz Festival, the Brussels Jazz Festival, and Bozar (Brussels); Dizzy’s Jazz Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center—New York); the National Jazz Museum in Harlem; Ladbroke Hall (London); the South Tyrol Jazz Festival; WDR Funkhaus (Cologne);… . Throughout his young career, during concerts and jam sessions, he has had the opportunity to play alongside renowned musicians, including Gilad Hekselman, Jaleel Shaw, Ben Street, Joe Dyson, Kanoa Mendenhall, Nduduzo Makhatini, Hamilton de Holanda, the WDR Big Band, and many others… In 2025, Simon Comte was invited as a soloist by the prestigious WDR Big Band of Cologne (winner of several Grammy Awards) to perform alongside German double bassist Nils Kugelmann. They performed several of his compositions, commissioned specifically for the occasion and arranged by Jakob Helling. The year 2026 marked a major turning point: Simon won the prestigious 49th Downbeat Annual Student Music Awards in the Best Soloist category, and he was also hailed by this renowned American magazine as one of the jazz soloists of the future. Furthermore, he was named a young artist to watch by Joshua Redman himself during an interview at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in June. That same month, Simon entered the studio with his quartet to record his first EP, *Chameleon Eyes*, with the legendary engineer James Farber in New York! Recognized as one of the most promising and captivating voices in contemporary jazz, Simon Comte is a true rising star who embodies a new generation of artists who are reinventing and carrying forward the language of jazz.