Xavier Tribolet played the piano and drums as a child. As a teenager, he turned to rock and jazz and attended jazz seminars at the Liège Conservatory. Later, Tribolet devoted himself to studying philosophy at the University of Liège and completed his musical training at the Jazz Conservatory in Brussels with a degree in drums and harmony. At this point, he was already well-known in the music scene. Through a contract with the French radio France Inter, the musician moved to Paris and began playing as a pianist in house bands on popular television shows. In his long career, he has worked as a musical director, drummer, pianist, and arranger with many top-class artists of different genres, including Yael Naim, Bernard Lavilliers, Youn Sun Nah, Angélique Kidjo, Zaz, and Michel Portal.