Marcel Zanini, the great French jazz musician, died today at the age of 99 in a Paris hospital, his son Alain Zanini said.

Marcel Zanini was born in Istanbul on September 7, 1923 to a French-Italian father and a Greek mother. In 1930, the family left Turkey and settled in Marseille.

He finds his way to the clarinet and saxophone and is drawn to the post-war jazz boom in Paris’ Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

In 1954 he left for New York, where for four years he played with the biggest names in music of the time: Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday and others.

Despite his recognition in jazz circles, he is best remembered by the general public as a pop singer. The song “Tu veux ou tu veux pas” (1969) is a cover of the Brazilian Wilson Simonal’s hit “Nem vem que não tem”.