Finally returning to its quarters after two editions upset by the pandemic, the Festival international de jazz de Montréal (FIJM) intends to spoil its audience by inviting the cream of new world jazz.
A pompous display including Californian Kamasi Washington on the Place des Festivals, saxophonist and composer Chelsea Carmichael from the bustling British jazz scene, Makaya McCraven, Chief Adjuah and the brilliant pianist and composer Robert Glasper. All have in common this irresistible need to infuse jazz into the music underground while carrying their vision of an inclusive world, an approach that succeeds in attracting a new audience to the genre. Let’s take the pulse of the new generation.
On the phone from Los Angeles, where he resides, composer and pianist Robert Glasper assures us that he had not planned to offer a third chapter of his militant project Black Radiothrough which he fuses jazz with rap, soul and contemporary R&B, with a sensitivity and intelligence rarely heard before.
“The first two had worked well”, the inaugural album even winning a Grammy in 2013. “But I didn’t want to hit the same nail again, so to speak. I felt that I had said what I had to say, and that was it. But, for years, everyone asked me when I was going to release the sequel. During the pandemic, there was such a need for new music that I felt compelled to give fans what they were asking for, when we were busy listening to music anyway. music and Netflix. And then it got to me…”
I plan to present a lot of material that I have never had the chance to play at your place, since it has been years since I have been to Montreal
Black Radio III was published last February after long months of gestation during which the question of civil rights returned to the fore in the United States following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.
“For me, all that, George Floyd, the protests — I saw riots just around the corner from my home in Los Angeles! — it was like fuel. These kinds of events, good and bad, are like sparks igniting my creation,” says Glasper, who, the day before his interview with The dutyoffered a powerful performance at the big concert Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedombroadcast live on CNN.
“I feel like I’ve become one of those people that people look to to understand, in music, what’s going on around us, and that’s why Black Radio III opens with two important texts”, In-Tunerecited by the poet Amir Sulaiman, and Black Superherofeaturing rappers Killer Mike, BJ the Chicago Kid and Big KRIT And at the end is an excerpt from a conversation with fellow songwriter and trumpeter Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott).
The vision of a new jazz
Robert Glasper leads the way, both in substance and form. Since his debut at the turn of the millennium, the musician has always maintained close ties with the rap and R&B scenes, carrying out his solo projects while collaborating with artists such as Bilal, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), Erykah Badu and Kendrick Lamar. . “These music lives in me because I toured with the masters of jazz, the masters of rap and the masters of R&B. That’s why I believe that when I make these fusions between styles, I do it with honesty, and it shows. This is my personal story. »
The meeting of the worlds of hip-hop and jazz is not new – as early as 1983, Herbie Hancock presented the album FutureShock understanding success Rockit, featuring DJ GrandMixer DXT’s scratches. Thus, the conversation between the actors of these scenes has been going on for 40 years already, and it continues to nourish creativity and inspire a new generation of musicians, even at home.
“People like Glasper or Kamasi Washington have a very big influence on the musicians here,” assures Gary Tremblay, owner of the jazz club Dièse Onze, rue Saint-Denis. “During the school year, at home, Wednesdays are devoted to compositions by young Montreal artists. I am in contact with them, I hear their work: they have the knowledge, they have the talent, they have taste, and they are indeed influenced by this new scene. »
A member of the Nomadic Massive collective, composer and rapper Waahli — in concert at the FIJM on July 3, 7 p.m. — also says he is influenced by these new scenes on the American and British West Coast where jazz is expressed by young stars Chelsea Carmichael, Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross or even Moses Boyd. “Many of the musicians I meet often have these same references. They are seasoned artists who make great music, but also understand the culture” of rap, reggae and R&B. “What they are doing is refreshing. They inject new ideas into the scene through their musical personalities. »
Waahli and Gary Tremblay recognize all the same that if these American and British creators exert an influence on the musicians here, this one does not get along so clearly. “We won’t lie to each other, the jazz scene here is quite traditional, in particular because of the teaching of jazz in universities, even if today we are witnessing a change of guard and younger teachers are integrated , said Tremblay. Opening up to interbreeding also requires more open teachers who will encourage students to develop their style in a different way. »
There is, moreover, a demographic reality explaining the timid fusion of jazz and so-called “urban” music in Montreal, which Waahli understands as follows: “Most of my jazz musician friends who studied at McGill University and University of Montreal are white, blacks are still few in number. »
This new vision of a jazz tuned to rap or, in the United Kingdom, African and Caribbean roots is not only aesthetic, it also reflects the journey of the individuals who create this music and their hope that the music also carries a message.
Talking about our time
“I remember what Nina Simone has already said: ‘How can we be artists without telling our time?’ said Robert Glasper. We must talk about what is happening today and express who we are – and especially for blacks, since we have been, from the beginning, in front of the cause of civil rights. I feel an obligation to talk about our time, and my way of doing it well is through music. »
“What is interesting, adds Waahli, is that even white people who have a diploma are also interested in what school has not taught them, that is to say the black experience which traces the evolution of jazz. Today, they find it important to learn and understand it. But it is true that the same movement that is emerging in Los Angeles and London is not as present in Montreal. Its flight here has not been taken, but more and more musicians understand the movement and are interested in it. »
All the more reason to listen to what Kamasi Washington, Chelsea Carmichael and Robert Glasper have to share with us. “I plan to present a lot of material that I’ve never had the chance to play at your place, since it’s been years since I’ve been to Montreal,” says Glasper, who promises a mix of his famous covers, unreleased compositions and a selection of titles taken from the triptych Black Radio.
“My schedule really depends on how I feel about the audience once there; I always have two or three songs planned at the beginning, but then I observe the audience, I try to capture the vibe, and that’s what inspires me for the rest of the concert. Robert Glasper will be joined by drummer Chris Dave, bassist Burniss Travis and DJ Jahi Sundance.