Pianist Pierre de Bethmann elected Instrumental Artist of the Year, singer Sandra Nkaké Vocal Artist, the group Monsieur Mâlâ Révélation, saxophonist Émile Parisien distinguished for his album Let Them Cook, the “all-star” quartet Les Égarés (which also features Émile Parisien) was awarded the title of concert of the year, and finally the Reunion Island musician Ann O’Aro was crowned the world music album with Blue, This is the 2024 list of Victoires du Jazz winners, according to an official press release shared on social media on Friday morning.
It has become a tradition, the annual Victoires du Jazz awards are the subject of a documentary for France Télévisions channels. The 2024 harvest film, hosted by Manu Katché, will be broadcast on Monday, September 16 at 9 p.m. on the Culturebox channel, and it will be posted online on the france.tv platform on this occasion. Live sequences and interviews were recorded on September 3 and 4 in Paris, at the Maison de la Radio et de la Musique. The votes, carried out by a college of professionals from the world of music, took place in May.
Instrumental artist: Pierre de Bethmann
Pianist and composer Pierre de Bethmann, 59, one of the great figures of French jazz keyboard, with a major contribution to the scenes and improvised music for many years (with his trios like Prysm and his Medium Ensemble, for example), and an influence that has largely exceeded national borders, is elected Instrumental Artist of the Year. In 2024, he distinguished himself in particular with the album Creed recorded at the head of his quartet, and with the discographic culmination of the bubbling project Piano Forte which brings him together with three other keyboard masters: Éric Legnini, Baptiste Trotignon and Bojan Z.
In this category of the Victoires du Jazz, Pierre de Bethmann succeeds saxophonist Géraldine Laurent, elected Instrumental Artist 2023.
Voice artist: Sandra Nkaké
Sandra Nkaké, a French-Cameroonian singer and actress with a personality and voice as powerful as it is charismatic, was elected vocal artist of the year. Feminist and rebellious at heart, she is so well known solo, with her fourth album Scars (“Cicatrices”) released in spring 2023 (it was then too late for the staggered votes of the Victoires du Jazz 2023), in tandem with the formidable flautist Jî Drû, his partner in the city as well as on stage, or as a priestess of the sisterhood alongside sensitive artists like Jeanne Added. Among his great sources of inspiration are Anne Sylvestre and Colette Magny, confided the 50-year-old artist, born in Yaoundé, to France Inter last February. Two deep, singular and marginalized voices in their time.
Sandra Nkaké succeeds the two vocalists who were joint winners of the 2023 Victoires du Jazz, Camille Bertault and Hugh Coltman.
Revelation (Frank Ténot Prize): Monsieur Mâlâ
Monsieur Mâlâ, a collective of five musicians, offers lively music that joyfully fuses jazz, funk, African and Caribbean music. The group of multi-instrumentalists was formed in the 2010s between the benches of the Conservatoire national de Paris (CNSM) and the jam sessions of the Baiser Salé, a Parisian club highly conducive to musical encounters. After a few EPs (4 or 6 track records), Monsieur Mâlâ released a first album last March, simply bearing the name of the group.
In the Revelation category, Monsieur Mâlâ succeeds saxophonist Jeanne Michard.
Jazz album: “Let Them Cook”, Émile Parisien Quartet
So it is Let Them Cook by saxophonist Émile Parisien in quartet (released by Act last March) which won the trophy for jazz album 2024. Émile Parisien, 41 years old, one of the stars of jazz soprano saxophone in France and Europe, intended to celebrate with this album the twentieth anniversary of his quartet founded with Julien Touery on piano, Ivan Gélugne on double bass and Sylvain Darrifourcq on drums (a position taken over by Julien Loutelier in 2018).
In the jazz album charts, Let Them Cook succeeds to Pedron Rubalcaba (Gazebo label) which brought together the Breton saxophonist and the Cuban pianist in a beautiful and sensitive dialogue.
Concert: “The Lost” (Sissoko, Segal, Parisien, Peirani)
The Victoire du Jazz for concert of the year was awarded to the artistic project The Lost by Sissoko, Segal, Parisien and Peirani (an Anteprima/ Mad Minute/ Yes Les Guyzz/ Molpé Music production). This authentic acoustic “all-star” brought together, on stage and on record, two of the most famous duos on the jazz and improvised music scene of recent years in France. In this case, the tandem formed by the korist Ballaké Sissoko and the cellist Vincent Segal, and the duo of two “brothers” self-proclaimed musicians, accordionist Vincent Peirani and saxophonist Émile Parisien.
The 2023 winner in the Concert category was Géraldine Laurent and her delicious tour Cooking in quartet.
World music album: “Bleu”, Ann O’aro
Singer, poet, musician and composer from Reunion Island, Ann O’aro, 33, won the World Music Album of the Year trophy for her third opus, Blue, released last February on Cobalt. Since her first album, the artist has combined her powerful words with the aesthetics of maloya to exorcise the violence of the incest she suffered in her childhood, an opportunity to look at the failings of Reunion society. Ann O’aro, who likes to sing a cappella or simply accompanied by percussion or a trombone, has wrapped her new repertoire in piano and electro sounds.
Blue succeeds the Cry of Cairo by Abdullah Miniawy, Peter Corser and Karsten Hochapfel, awarded last year.
Jazz Victories 2024: reminder of the nominations
Instrumental artist
Pierre de Bethmann (piano), Céline Bonacina (saxophone), Arnaud Dolmen (drums)
Voice Artist
Leila Martial, Sandra Nkaké, Thomas de Pourquery
Revelation (Frank Ténot Prize)
Pierre Durand (guitar), Monsieur Mâlâ (band), Mark Priore (piano)
Jazz album
An Indian’s Life by Henri Texier (Label Bleu), Let Them Cook by Emile Parisien Quartet (Act), #Puzzled by Pierre-François Blanchard and Thomas Savy (The Underground Rivers)
Concert
The Virtuoso Time by Sophie Alour (Anteprima Productions), The Lost by Sissoko, Segal, Parisien and Peirani (Anteprima Productions/ Mad Minute/ Yes Les Guyzz/ Molpé Music), Scars by Sandra Nkaké (Caramba)
World Music Album
Blue by Ann O’aro (Cobalt), Caribbean by Ana Carla Maza (ACM Global Music), Fado Camoes by Lina (Uguru/MDC), iViV by Oriane Lacaille (Ignatub).