Tango en Skaï (1985), is one of his best-known pieces, but also widely played is the more extended Libra Sonatine (1986) written in three movements: 'India', 'Largo', 'Fuoco', composed after Dyens had heart surgery. ĭyens released several volumes of arrangements that included not only the classical music of Fernando Sor but also the Brazilian music of Heitor Villa-Lobos, jazz standards by Thelonious Monk, the French pop of Edith Piaf, and the Gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt. A heavy metal band did a version of the third movement of his Libra Sonatine. He played Bach suites and he played with jazz musicians at the Arvika Festival in Sweden. He said that a journalist once told him he had the hands of a classical musician but the mind of a jazz musician. Sometimes he opened his concerts with an improvised piece, and he might improvise the program itself, without planning or announcing beforehand what he would be playing. Īs a performer, Dyens was known for improvisation.
He studied with Spanish classical guitarist Alberto Ponce and with Désiré Dondeyne. Dyens was born in Tunisia and lived most of his life in Paris.
