French jazz musician Sophie Alour first studied clarinet and then, at 19, picked up the saxophone on her own. An accomplished sidewoman who has performed with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Rhoda Scott and Aldo Romano, she founded her own sextet in 2001. She released a debut album, Insulaire, in 2005. On her 2007 album, Uncaged, she worked with musicians Sébastien Martel (guitar), Laurent Coq (piano, Fender Rhodes) Karl Jannuska (drums) and Yoni Zelnik (double bass), going beyond the boundaries of jazz to explore a sound edged with rock. That same year, she earned a Django d'or. Her third album, Opus 3 (2010), features a trio with Jannuska and Zelnik and is a return to her jazz roots and to a subtler, smoother feel.