Penalized by the pandemic like all festivals (cancelled in 2020, postponed by three months in a shorter version in 2021), Jazz sous les pommiers 2022 savored, between May 20 and 28, the happiness of reconnecting with the public, without restrictions or restrictions. On the last evening, in a press release shared on social networks, the Norman festival based in Coutances was delighted with the “wind of joy [qui] blew as much in the streets as in the halls”. With a balance sheet “beyond expectations” after two years of health crisis: “Attendance for this 2022 edition was very close to 2019 with more than 90% room occupancy rate.” Several live performances by Coutances are available on france.tv, but also on France Musique.
Émile Parisien presents his album “Louise” with his Franco-American supergroup
Émile Parisien, a brilliant soprano saxophonist, released a very fine album at the end of January, recorded at the head of a shocking Franco-American sextet. On the French jazz scene, we find his old accomplices Roberto Negro (piano), Manu Codjia (guitar). On the American stage: trumpeter Theo Crocker, drummer Nasheet Waits and bassist Joe Martin. In the album Louisa (a title in allusion to the artist Louise Bourgeois), Émile Parisien offers himself a moment of introspection in the stages of his musical journey. Concert recorded on May 21.
The island of mixed songs, maritime and musical journey with Marion Rampal at the helm
A poetic mix of song and theatre, a didactic overview of traditional music and tunes taken up by the worlds of song and jazz, a trip from New Orleans to Jamaica, from Hawaii to Reunion… The opportunity to hear themes sometimes popularized, sometimes written by artists such as Harry Belafonte, Hugues Aufray or Liliʻuokalani, and original compositions. A seductive journey across the oceans by a very musical crew: Marion Rampal (vocals, guitar, composition), Pierre-François Blanchard (piano, keyboards, composition) and Sébastien Llado (trombone, conches, wind instruments). A family show illustrated by the drawings of a jazz star, the singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. Director: Jeanne Béziers. Text: Martin Sarrazac. Concert recorded on May 20.
Laurent Coulondre, in trio, pays tribute to his hero Michel Petrucciani
With the legendary André Ceccarelli (drums) and Jérémy Bruyère (double bass) at his side, pianist and organist Laurent Coulondre revisits the music of the jazzman who deeply marked and inspired him in his youth: Michel Petrucciani. In 2019, he dedicated a very beautiful album to her, Michael on my Mind, recorded at the head of the same trio. On stage as on record, his tribute is light, airy, elegant. Concert recorded on May 21.
Kokoroko and his afrojazz made in London
Concert available on the france.tv website
A collective originating from the London scene, Kokoroko is one of those young bands that marvelously fuse 21st century jazz with the groove and rhythms of West Africa. On the menu, brass instruments, choirs, instrumental and vocal soloists for a musical journey of great freshness and richness. And on stage, we admire these eight very endearing artists and their very bewitching pieces. Concert recorded on May 21.
Urban Village, four friends from Soweto for bewitching folk
Concert available on the france.tv website
They are four musician friends from Soweto, a township (poor neighborhood) in the south-west of Johannesburg. They offer a repertoire uniting folk and traditional South African music, without depriving themselves of winks like this Song of the Partisans to which a very discreet homage seems furtively sketched in the first guitar notes of the concert. They welcome us from the start into a sound universe where we like to abandon ourselves, particularly seduced by the voice of the singer Tubatsi Mpho Moloi, without forgetting the guitarist Lerato Ntsane Lchiba. The group released in 2021 an album titled Udondolo. Concert recorded on May 20.
Concerts recorded by France Musique… and a double CD album
It would be a shame to miss their recordings if you weren’t lucky enough to be in Coutances in May. Two concerts broadcast by France Musique are available for listening via the programs Jazz Club and Open Jazz:
Thomas de Pourquery and Supersonic (concert recorded on May 26): the ardent saxophonist-singer, recent winner of the Django Reinhardt prize from the Académie du Jazz, and his fabulous group of friends present excerpts from their third album Back to the Moon out in the fall of 2021. And as always, it’s a party.
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Hamilton by Holanda and Roberta Sá (captured May 26): at the head of a “bandolim”-piano-percussion trio, the virtuoso mandolinist revisits masterpieces by Antônio Carlos Jobim, and plays three compositions (including one co-signed with Snarky Puppy’s Michael League). With a tribute to Villa-Lobos as an intro to the sublime Passarim… Roberta Sá comes to sing Sabia, Samba do Aviao and Brigas nunca But (which we hear a few moments before the end of the retransmission…). Bright.
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Finally, the concert of the double bass player Avishai Cohen’s trio (which was held on May 28 in Coutances) was broadcast on Saturday June 4 as part of the Jazz Club program. Alongside pianist Elchin Shirinov and drummer Roni Kaspi, the famous Italian musician performed several of his compositions, notably from his latest album Shifting Sands.
Bonus: remember that France Musique offers the recording of extracts from the concert of the historic resident artists of Jazz sous les pommiers, given in Coutances on August 26, 2021. Since 1995, ten artists have succeeded in long-term artistic residencies: Franck Tortiller (vibraphone, he came then with his trio), Yves Rousseau (double bass), Bojan Z (piano, keyboards), Louis Winsberg (guitar), Andy Sheppard (saxophone), Thomas de Pourquery (saxophone, voice), Airelle Besson ( trumpet), Anne Paceo (drums, vocals), Fidel Fourneyron (trombone), Théo Ceccaldi (violin). A double CD album, Under the apple trees (L’Autre Distribution) immortalizes this anthology concert which marked the festival-goers of the short summer edition 2021 of Jazz under the apple trees.
See you from May 13 to 20, 2023 for the 42nd edition…