André Manoukian and Addis Ababa Surf Club open the Jazz sous les apple trees festival in Coutances

The famous jazz festival returns to Normandy from May 4 to 11, 2024 for its 43rd edition. This year, the program offers more than 150 events for all tastes.

Like every year for 43 years, the streets of Coutances in Manche swing to the rhythm of jazz. Until May 11, the Jazz sous les pommiers festival invites fans of the genre to come and party with around sixty artists.

The festival aims to be a window open to the musical world. Local artists rub shoulders with the big names in jazz. To open the festivities, the Norman quartet Addis Ababa Surf Club took to the stage at Magic Mirrors. Between Ethiopian jazz from the 1970s and music from Californian beaches, the four musicians do not hesitate to mix genres. “We have all been exposed to lots of different music and in terms of curiosity and tastes that fuels a lot of things,”

A few hours later, the composer Alain Manoukian took his place behind his piano to perform his latest album Anouch. This is the first time he has performed at the festival. With this concert, he immerses us in his Armenian roots. A musical journey from the West to the East in homage to his grandmother, a survivor of the Armenian genocide. “If someone had told me one day, you will play your grandmother’s music, I would have burst out laughing and yet that’s what I do”, he smiled.

Guided by the captivating voices of the Balkan choristers and the Greek singer Dafné Kritharas, and supported by the very particular timbre of traditional instruments such as the doudouk, the musician shared a history lesson in music, virtuoso, mischievous and poetic. “In Greek, jazz is ecstasy!” he emphasizes.

Living music par excellence, all styles of music have their place at Jazz sous les pommiers. The program for this 43rd edition still promises headliners, great discoveries and artists in constant research.

Jazz for everyone

A highlight of the festival, electro-jazz fans will be able to party to the wild sounds of Jeff Mills. The living techno legend performs this Wednesday, May 8 at midnight for an evening of electric sounds with his project Tomorrow Comes The Harvest. The DJ will be surrounded by pianist Jean-Philippe Dary and flautist Rasheeda Ali. In the same evening the Colombian DJ Jimena Angel will make the dance floor vibrate with its sunny and eclectic selections.

In addition to the creations of the new residents of the festival (MŸA for Robinson Khoury and Oizel for Marion Rampal), the public will be able to listen to guitarist Bill Frisell in a trio combining blues, country and jazz. Cuban pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa will, for his part, be accompanied by the harmonica player Grégoire Maret. The young drummer Roni Kaspi, noticed alongside Avishai Cohen, will present her personal project on May 11. To celebrate the 80th anniversary of D.Day, the Jazz At Lincoln Center in New York directed by Wynton Marsalis will pay a great tribute to Duke Ellington.

Also expected under the apple trees: the British group GoGo Penguin, the French quintet Poetic Ways, the singer La Chica and Kareen Guiock-Thuram for a tribute to the great lady of jazz Nina Simone. For music lovers, the American pianist Brad Mehldau will perform in a trio alongside his old accomplice, Jorge Rossy, and the young double bassist Felix Moseholm.

Marching bands, performances, small groups or large concerts, for a week all the places in Coutances will resonate to the sound of music.

Jazz festival under the apple trees in Coutances until May 11, 2024