Alain Mion (born January 14, 1947, in Casablanca) is a French pianist, composer, arranger, jazz singer, and leader of the band Cortex.
[2] Cortex's albums "Troupeau Bleu" and Volume 2 have been re-released several times and sampled by many hip-hop artists, rappers and DJs.
[3] Artists who have sampled Cortex include: Madlib, Fat Joe, DJ Day, MF DOOM, Wiz Khalifa, Curren$y, Mellowhype, Tyler The Creator, Rick Ross, and Lupe Fiasco.
In 2008, Mion appeared with a new group, Alain Mion FunKey Combo (with German drummer Michael Kerstin, Swedish bassist Patrik Boman, and a saxophone section consisting of Italian and French musicians: Loïc Soulat on alto, Pietro Tonolo on tenor and Romano Pratesi on baritone) then with his new group Alain Mion & The New Cortex which reunited for concerts at New Morning in 2009-10, with the singer Adeline de Lépinay reprising the role originally performed by Mireille Dalbray on the Troupeau Bleu album.
Filmed in concert and broadcast by Mezzo TV, the group's repertoire included both new and old compositions of Alain Mion, reflected in the new album "Let's Groove", released on Trad Vibe Records and presented during a concert in Paris at Petit Journal Montparnasse en 2012.