We are in 2007. We are in Oloron Sainte-Marie where Jazz in Oloron is in full swing. That evening, the gospel takes center stage. Gladys Amoros, is on stage with her choir. A stone’s throw away in a bistro from the “Off”, we sing the blues. This is Nico Wayne Toussaint. He is at the start of his remarkable career. Gladys can’t wait to give her soul to the “blues devils”. And as much as she takes immense pleasure in singing, as her grandmother taught her, the more she wants to break codes. Work, metro, sleep, very little for her. Here we go to indulge in these songs, in his words, made of melancholy hopes. But, there is something new. Something that begins to vibrate in her, as soon as she enters the bistro. There’s a guitarist she doesn’t know. This is THE meeting. Michel Foizon, alongside Nico, leads the room in totally mastered riffs, posed with just the right amount of this languorously aggressive softness, specific to the blues.
Suddenly, Gladys falls in love with the musician and the man. Twenty Five Years!
This is also one of their new title! For the rest, between an incredible talent for writing and singing the blues, and all the soul it takes to play it on stage, Gladys and Michel embark on a career which over time has become exceptional. After seven albums and an 8th in the pipeline, there is no need to list reviews, prizes or recognition. It’s the public who decides. And he decided a long time ago to install Gladys Amoros and Michel Foizon at the top of the bill. But history is also written through a show about slavery. Here again, chance will lead Gladys in the footsteps of a stranger. At least for her. This is Frederick Douglass. A black American with an incredible destiny. It took two souls as sensitive as that of Gladys Amoros and Michel Foizon, to make his journey: “Slave Memory”. All with the help of blues brother, Nico Wayne Toussaint. We listen to a piece of it elsewhere in the Happy Hour Live.
Gladys Amoros and Michel Foizon in concert:
- 03.22.22: Concert for the Rotary Club of Pau at the Jampub in Lescar (64)
- 04.01.22: Concert with Sam Tchang in Cognac (16)
- 02.04.22: Concert at the Times Street Bar in Idron (64)
- 20.05.22: Concert tribute to Jacques Morgantini in Gan (64)
- 22.05.22: “Blues at La Grange” concert in Toulouse (31)
- 09.06.22: Concert at the Ecuries de Baroja in Anglet (64)
- 06.17.22: Concert at the Roseraie in Saint Sever (40)
- 24.07.22: Concert at Cocooning in Seignosse Océan (40)
- 07.27.22: Show “Slave Memory” at the Hinx Festival (Landes – 40)
– Frederic Leme