Article Contributed by Missing Piece Group
Published on 2026-10-04
Photo Credit: Anoush Abrar for the Montreux Jazz Festival
Internationally acclaimed pianist, composer and producer Mathis Picard has released “A Bigger Picture Pt. I (Truth),” the newest single from his upcoming genre-bending large ensemble album, The Sound Orchestra, out November 6 via La Reserve Records.
Inspired by the work of Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate and her book A Bigger Picture, the composition reflects Picard’s growing concern about the climate crisis and the unequal ways in which its consequences are experienced around the world. Moving beyond the conventional conversation about climate change, Picard uses the piece to explore climate justice, environmental responsibility and the fundamental connection between the health of humanity and the planet we call home.
Listen to “A Bigger Picture Pt. I (Truth)”
“A Bigger Picture is the title of a book by Vanessa Nakate, a climate activist based in Uganda who inspired and empowered me to believe that no voice or action is too small to have influence over a reality that is so agonizingly ignored: the climate crisis,” says Picard. “A very important aspect of this book is that what we are really talking about is not only climate change, but climate justice, because not everyone is being impacted by this new, quickly developing reality in the same ways.”
Picard sees this distinction as central to the conversation. While the countries and industries most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions have historically benefited from the exploitation of natural resources, the consequences of environmental degradation are often felt disproportionately by nations with the fewest resources to protect themselves. From communities facing drought and crop failures to those confronting the destruction of their land and water supplies, the climate crisis is inseparable from questions of inequality, access and collective responsibility.
“The Bigger Picture is the understanding that we are not all free until everyone is free,” Picard explains. “And freedom in this case is living in a world where everyone has access to clean water, food, a home, and opportunity. None of these things are possible the moment a group of people think of themselves as greater than Mother Earth.”
That sense of interconnectedness extends throughout Picard’s work and informs the visual identity of The Sound Orchestra. The album cover features a lemur, an endangered animal native to Madagascar, the homeland of Picard’s mother. A symbol of the island’s extraordinary biodiversity, the lemur also represents the vulnerability of the natural world to the consequences of human activity. Described by Picard as his “spirit animal,” the lemur embodies the tension between the beauty of the natural environment and the growing threats to its survival.
The Sound Orchestra is the latest chapter in a career that has seen Picard emerge as one of the most distinctive young voices in contemporary jazz. Born in France to a French father and Malagasy mother, Picard began playing piano at age four and pursued a rigorous musical education across the United States, France and the UK. Now based in New York City, he is a Juilliard School alumnus, an ASCAP Next Generation of Songwriters recipient and a member of the Montreux Jazz Foundation. He has performed with such artists as Ron Carter, Lillias White, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride and more on stages around the world, including appearances at Umbria Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival and The Jazz Cruise.
The roots of The Sound Orchestra began when Picard was 13 years old, when he led a similar ensemble while studying at Chetham’s School of Music in England. The first iteration of Picard’s US-based Sound Orchestra then began as a three-horn ensemble performing Picard’s original music, featuring Giveton Gelin and Ruben Fox. The project continued to expand over the years into a full-scale ensemble featuring a saxophone section, electric bass and an expansive percussion section providing the rhythmic foundation for Picard’s compositions.
Across The Sound Orchestra, Picard draws on the musical worlds that have shaped him: rhythms from his mother’s native Madagascar meet Afro-Cuban music, 1970s funk like Earth, Wind & Fire, and the work of jazz giants including Duke Ellington and Fats Waller.
With The Sound Orchestra, Picard brings all of these influences together into his most expansive project yet—a record where jazz tradition meets global rhythm, orchestral ambition meets improvisation, and the ultimate measure of success is whether the music gets people out of their seats.
Tracklist
FearLess
A Bigger Picture Pt. I (Truth)
A Bigger Picture Pt. II (Hope)
JitterBug Waltz
Portrait of Lizzy
InnerChild
SunRise
Ho Azy
RoundPoint
October 9 – New York, NY – Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio at Lincoln Center (trio with Godwin Louis and Marco Lopez)
October 10 – Middlebury, VT – Town Hall Theatre (trio with Parker McAllister and Jaylen Petinaud)
October 15 – San Francisco, CA – SFJAZZ (trio with Parker McAllister and Joe Dyson)
October 16 – Palo Alto, CA – Meyhouse Jazz (trio with Parker McAllister and Joe Dyson)
October 17 – San Ramon, CA – Meyhouse Jazz (trio with Parker McAllister and Joe Dyson)
October 18 – Paso Robles, CA – Libretto (solo piano)
October 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Vibrato (solo piano with Braxton Cook)
October 21 – New York, NY – Lincoln Center (solo piano and talk)
October 22 – Seattle, WA – Earshot (with Sasha Berliner Band)
October 23 & 24 – Las Vegas, NV – Vic’s (solo piano)
October 28 – Portsmouth, NH – Jimmy’s (solo piano)
November 17 – Lawrence, KS – Lied Center (trio with Parker McAllister and Jaylen Petinaud)
Photo credit: Anoush Abrar for the Montreux Jazz Festival
