With a master’s degree in pure mathematics, Beija Jeanzac quickly traded equations for the harmonica. He discovered the instrument at age 25 and never looked back, gradually developing a musical style that draws on American blues and swing while embracing gypsy jazz, rock, and sounds from around the world.
He cut his teeth in Paris with the group Men in Blues starting in 2002. Five years later, he formed Beija’s Project, a trio that incorporated vocals for the first time. Around the same time, Beija’s Colors was born, another ensemble where the harmonica converses with piano and percussion in a repertoire influenced by global sounds.
National fame came with 2Blues, a duo he formed with guitarist Marc Loy in 2008. Six intense years, over 200 concerts throughout France, and an album released in 2010. It was there that Beija’s harmonica truly found its place, capable of expressing everything: melancholy as well as humor, tenderness as well as brilliance.
The next phase of his career led him toward increasingly personal projects. Sillage, recorded in 2018, marked an intimate turning point in his discography. Then came Be Swing in 2024, recorded at the Caveau des Oubliettes. Today, it is Swing Toon that channels his energy: a joyful, danceable quartet, inspired by the spirit of Louis Jordan and Django Reinhardt, which regularly sets the New Morning, the Petit Journal Montparnasse, and the Utopia ablaze.
All over the world, he has shared the stage with Jean-Jacques Milteau, Beverly Jo Scott, and Basile Leroux, and has performed from the Cathedral of Carthage to the Marrakech Film Festival, via Senegal and the Caribbean. He calls his harmonica his “little friend,” an instrument he makes sound like a flute, a trumpet, or a human voice, depending on his mood at the moment.