The programming of the twenty-sixth Banlieues Bleues festival, jazz in Seine-Saint-Denis, 45 groups for 26 nights. Jazz, the memory will be shaken in all directions, with a double opening in Saint-Ouen updating historic two icons: Thelonious Monk and Billie Holiday. For the first time in its history, Banlieues Bleues develop a central theme, receiving a guest for 2009 very special New Orleans, with the landing exclusive groups of twelve symbols of the incredible excitement that prevails today in the city of All musical adventures for a long century. Banlieues Bleues festival is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Communication (DRAC Ile-de-France) and the General Council of the Seine-Saint-Denis, with the support of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France and the participating cities.

He is one of the most versatile and renowned modern music and the only artist to have won the title of best singer in the three different categories such as jazz, pop and R’n ‘B. With five Grammy Awards to his credit, he for years branded a guest on the main stages in the world. It will be touring in France in April.

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The American artist is a piano prodigy. From the jazz scene in the 90s, it demonstrates the extent of its artistic qualities of jazz or pieces revisited directory rock. Equally comfortable on Radiohead as the Oasis or Coltrane is still on stage as Mehldau Vrad surprises the better. In 2008, he released a live album recorded as a trio, now it stands on stage.

It is fashionable these days to come down dramatically as the musicians were brought to bare. American pianist Brad Mehldau is not an exception to the rule: everything crowned its sound (and successful) the collection of rock standards (from Radiohead to Nick Drake), we may have overestimated the boy when he arrived on the jazz scene. No reason to underestimate today, even if ‘Live’ is not part of the pantheon – he prefers the ‘Art of the Trio’ or forgotten ‘Places’ with its estimable former accomplice to the battery Jorge Rossy. For three years, Jeff Ballard sits behind the drums and cymbals to keep the measure along with the bassist Larry Grenadier always. But the change of drummer does not: the state of grace for Mehldau may have dimmed with the two discs disappointing committed with Pat Metheny. Yet, back with his favorite phrase (the trio), pianist reserve still surprises as’ O que sera ‘where we discovered a new touch, epileptic and choppy, where he usually prefers long lyrical sequences . True to form, the American reappropriates tubes rock here ‘Black Hole Sun’ of grunge forgotten (at) Soundgarden and clones of the Fab Four forgotten (at) Oasis. In this exercise, Mehldau has fared well. It might even welcome the move for two reasons: it increases the catalog of jazz standards and brings fans intrigued rock to jazz. For that reason alone, Mehldau important. On this album is still one problem: the risk of indigestion. A double disc, too: it detects time low, it annoys them, and a final choice of the best titles compiled together on a single disc would have proved far more sensible and would have been enough to remind all Mehldau’s talent and his unparalleled mastery of the art of the trio.

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Stacey Kent is a great jazz artist imbued with the Romantic repertoire. It draws its inspiration from the beginning of her career, she also loves the country and folk music of his American home. The mountains of Colorado are expensive, with Jim, she spent part of the year to play the guitar, singing and recharge your batteries.

She dreamed as a child: this is the first album by Stacey Kent signed on the label Blue Note. And as a dream can lead to another, this new film was also an opportunity for the singer to work for the first time with the writer Kazuo Ishiguro, winner of the Booker literary prizes and Whitbreat. He is the author of four texts set to music and arranged by saxophonist and husband of Madam, Jim Tomlinson. If the interest of music may be of uneven quality, fishing sometimes lack character, the voice of Stacey Kent remains still as bewitching. Pick up clear and precise. Variety of musical languages. There are melodies caressing Stan Getz to as’ I wish I Could Go Traveling Again ‘or’ Samba Saravah. Title taken from the soundtrack of the film “Un homme et une femme” by Claude Lelouch for which the artist has combined his love for music to the cinema. All in an impeccable French, which she provides us again in two other small beads written by Serge Gainsbourg. “Ces Petits Riens’ led by a colorful rhythmic accents manouches. And intimate ‘rainy season’ where the acoustic guitar accompanied by John Parricelli voice sensual and lascivious. The atmosphere is sometimes more distinguished ( ‘So Many Stars’, so romantic). Atmosphere and Martini long dress with small olives. But with ‘Hard hearted Hannah, the voice of Stacey Kent délaisse time intonations its bitter-sweet to venture into more cheerful colors, the trick very “cabaret.” Often melancholy but never desperate interpretations Stacey Kent carry within them a force sensitive. A picture of optimism that it strives to convey through his music. On the wire, in the heart of emotions, the voice of Stacey Kent takes us by the end of the feelings we never let go.

In radius of jazz female vocal, revelations follow and are not alike. After the class felt Diana Krall, the folk jazzy Norah Jones, here come the swing vintage years of prohibition reviewed by Robin McKelle. In the United States, the young singer to the pretty frimousse and golden-voiced cartonne already. His energy and his reading of the standards of the 1940s attracted an ever more important.

After the international success of his first album, singer Robin McKelle now proposes his second disc, still on the label Blue Note. Surrounded by brass and strings, it states once again its vocal qualities. His voice timbre is warm and sensitive technically impeccable. But the richness of it, seen in the intro to ‘I Want to be Loved’ or the standard ‘Lullaby of Birdland’ is not enough to save this album hopelessly rooted in the past. No invention, no originality does enter the ear, starting with the register, almost entirely of standards interpreted in a much more ancient and modern. The arrangements, always exaggerated, lacked finesse. The strings are difficult to place and appear to have the sole function to fill the space left empty by the musicians lack of inventiveness. For if their quality is unquestionable, one can only regret the lack of creativity and freedom to take the orchestra. All sounds cold, programmed. It is far from the legendary swing interpretations of standards chosen for this record. We can therefore continue to expect from an album Robin McKelle riskier, more daring, the orchestration can be more original. An album on which it will at last get rid of the influence of his elders to use his voice and reach its true personality. Meanwhile, ‘Modern Antique’ remains a hard and rather trite little interest.

Biography of Robin McKelle

Beginner’s musical journey by studying classical piano and the accompaniment of a jazz band in high school, Robin McKelle graduated from the famous Berklee College of Music before moving to Los Angeles to flourish as a chorister. Desiring to be on the front of the stage, she returned to Boston to found his first trio and enroll in class singing. Winning of the renowned Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition in 2004 and engaged in the Boston Pops Orchestra, the young woman goes on to give a private concert to the president of Blue Note Records and singing with David Bowie and Herbie Hancock. .. If these are the beginnings of this charming lucky jazz phenomenon, the young woman cartonne today with a first album very successful, ‘Introducing Robin McKelle. Presented twice with success in Paris, opus sounds vintages produced by the trumpeter and arranger Willie Murillo us rediscover the standards of the American 1940s. But if the voice golden McKelle and professional big band played a repertoire dates back several decades, the tone remains contemporary Latin jazz, tango, salsa, rumba, these occasions fresh and vibrant appeal finally an ever more important. It seems that the critics already comparing the young prodigy to Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. .. A vos, mark, get set, oyez!

The opening of all the free music and innovative is the trademark of this festival known around the world. Retaining jazz its taste for risk and improvisation, the festival in Amiens, jazz music and elsewhere, has become over the years the rendezvous of choice for short Amiénois discoveries. With this éditioon 2009 Amadou & Mariam, Omara Portuondo, the National Jazz Orchestra, Brad Mehldau Trio and many others … The festival will be held from 25 to 29 March 2009, including the Caravan of Jazz and “Elsewhere will tour Picardie from 12 to 20 March with Yuza and Carlos Maza.

Musician flagship 1960s, he stops suddenly on business for nearly ten years to get back into the international scene with Michel Petrucciani, in the early 1980s, and the label ECM a few years later. His music is warm, colorful, expressionistic powerfully lyrical beauty remains sublime.

After his experience as a trio with ‘Sangam’, the saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd septuagénaire returns with his first live recording in the quartet. Around him a youth voluble and bold but never arrogant. There are some of the pillars of the world rhythmic lloydien with drummer Eric Harland and bassist Reuben Rogers. And the triangle becomes square with the amazing pianist James Moran who, between purity and lyricism, is not complex, the reply given to tenor sax and the flute of Charles Lloyd. Often flying beyond ten minutes, the songs are real songs with varied textures and reckless impulses. The quartet takes the time to install his moods, ask its colors. Introductions often vaporeuses; at length during which the musicians give free rein to both their technical skill and their harmonic inventiveness. Chorus dreamers between solid groove ‘Booker’s Garden’ and exubérances very free from ‘Prometheus’, through the delicacy of upsetting’ Migration of Spirit ‘and influences “Indianisation of’ Ramanujan ’s that Lloyd ‘was pleased to explore with percussionist Zakir Hussain. In seven titles, the quartet music distills perfectly accomplished and energetic, disturbing phrasing and spiritual resonances. ‘Rabo de Nube is a live high quality, which has crystallized the transience of this meeting, between grace and power.

From his debut with the orchestra of Chick Webb in 1936 to the first albums dedicated to the great composers of popular American (the famous’ Song Books’). The freshness of its charming 19 years to maturity stunning emotion and accuracy of tone.
Without forgetting the sparkling scats bebop with the big band of Dizzy Gillespie and some beautiful duets: tender with Louis Armstrong, complicit with Louis Jordan, brilliant with Joe Williams. An anthology of three CD foreword by Claude Carriere, 68 titles selected and annotated by Marc Thomas, a study by Philippe Baudoin on musical quotations dotting the work of the singer in a booklet of 96 color pages illustrated: rare photographs, partitions, pouches, label … Read the rest of this entry »

Franco-Cameroonian singer at the crossroads of multiple universes, Sandra Nkake book a palette of musical colors perfectly with each other. This new phenomenon of the soul scene has landed on the music scene with a debut album sensual ‘Mansaadi. For presentation to the French public, it will start a tour from 29 January 2009.

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Developed as a collaboration between the legendary De La Soul and a handful of young admirers from R’n ‘B and hip-hop contemporaries,’ Lay it Down “will hear the voices sophisticated John Legend, Anthony Hamilton and Corinne Bailey Rae, among others. The album was produced by two of the most innovative hip-hop today, drummer Ahmir Questlove Thompson of the Roots and keyboardist James Poyser. This’ dream team ‘De La Soul modern began serving Green, who has respect the artistic options of these young people while retaining his personality. Even if he sings about his own tribulations, Al Green wishes brought a response to ours: the famous love with a big A.

Heralded as one of the disks soul the most anticipated of the year, the new album Al Green offers eleven melodic, rich and nostalgic. With ease and warmth disconcerting that the American managed to live his songs, which beautifully groove, sometimes referring to Stevie Wonder. The artist especially impressed by his ability to push his voice in the treble while retaining its grain and its safe and engaging so typical. Evidenced by the title ‘Too Much’, the energetic ‘Standing in the Rain’ or ‘Just for Me’. The Reverend also gives soul to the taste of the slow days of 50-60 years. Here is his art: mix romance, strength and sensitivity on gospel choirs or bright blues and soft power. ‘Take Your Time’ and ‘Lay it Down’ rock immediately by his soft and warm, a bit like the one that still crackles on the records of Marvin Gaye or Otis Redding. Singer acknowledged soul musician but also among the most gifted of his generation, Al Green also demonstrates his true talent instrumentalist group. Begun in 2006, the disc offers a series of songs that he conceived in jam sessions with artists from the mid r’n'b and hip-hop (such as the funky ‘You’ve Got the Love I Need ‘with Anthony Hamilton). Characterized by its arrangements period (brass, organ, bass and dry batteries), signed in part by the Dap Kings, already collaborating Sharon Jones or Amy Winehouse, ‘Lay it Down’ is one of those albums that feel good mood full nose and initially found their magic thanks to their simple musicality.

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