It’s been almost a month since the last edition. Time to assimilate, digest and extract, not the substance, but what I feel is necessary to highlight, to show the specificities that make this festival a singular event.
The festival at the heart of the town, Coutances the festival town: not a single place in the town escaped the festive influence: chapel, public gardens, schoolyards, esplanades, squares, cloisters, …and of course the venues dedicated to paying concerts (TMC, salle Marcel Hélie, Magic Mirrors, Le Long court cinema, the Cathedral…).
64 paying concerts over the week, with a fill rate of over 97%.
Street shows that sell out… (and without giving in to the temptation of variety shows, which, like most famous festivals, are designed to “sell tickets”…)
An Avis aux Amateurs stage, film screenings, exhibitions…
More than 70,000 spectators and visitors came to Coutances during this week to take part in this great event, according to their own desires. A truly great Jazz Festival.
Key figures :
– 49 employees and trainees
– 138 salaried technicians
– 530 volunteers
– 311 professional musicians and 30 professional street artists
– 2,544 subscribers
– 12 foreign programmers present.
In an initial assessment, festival director Denis Lebas describes the event as a collective success, made possible by the chemistry between permanent staff, volunteers and technicians. He also stresses the importance of welcoming artists. Work on the ecological transition is not to be outdone. For example, 100% of containers are reusable. Access to the festival and mobility are also subjects that are worked on and improved with each new edition.
So that’s the general picture. What about content?
The Creations
Of the 5, I’ll single out 3 in particular.
- A Carnival Love Story
With the support of the Conseil départemental de la Manche, as part of the schéma départemental de l’enseignement, des pratiques et de l’éducation artistique, Arnaud Dolmen was able to create a project bringing together over 200 students from 11 music schools in La Manche, 3 batucadas to propose “A Carnival Love Story”, which he specially composed and arranged, is largely inspired by his Guadeloupean culture and musical education.
Drawing on this culture, Arnaud Dolmen breaks away from traditional teaching methods and pays tribute at the start of the concert to Rudy Benjamin, who died a year ago and left an indelible mark on Guadeloupean carnival.
And it was almost a carnival, musically speaking at any rate, that the audience witnessed. With two sold-out performances (2,000 spectators!)
A unique experience for all participants.
With 2 special guests: Robinson Khoury and Sonny Troupé.
Special mention for the Arnaud Dolmen-Sonny Troupé duo, on a composition by the latter.
- Ishkero with Donny McCaslin
The Talents Jazz Adami scheme has chosen to showcase the Ishkero group, already present in Coutances in 2023 during Jazz Export Days. Under the mentorship of saxophonist Donny McCaslin, the project was presented by Laurent de Wilde at a showcase on the eve of the concert.
Coutances will be the first date of this creation. Two rehearsals and a showcase later, Ishkero and Donny McCaslin were on stage at the TMC.
The encounter between jazz, rock, fusion, young musicians in full cohesion and the saxophonist open to electric fusions, kept all its promises.
Donny McCaslin dialogued with each musician, pushing them to express the best of themselves, resulting in an exceptional musical creation.
Song for Abbey, Marion Rampal’s creation.
Steeped in Abbey’s melodies from her early teens, but also touched by the feminist activist, Marion Rampal has chosen to interpret the songwriter’s repertoire, which she describes as jazz heritage.
She chose to work with the same team as for her previous project (Oizel): Matthis Pascaud, Raphaël Chassin, Thibault Gomez and Simon Tailleu. “Abbey sings Abbey” will be the main theme of this concert. The aim is to pay homage in Abbey’s world of sound, not in its own. Learning How to Listen, a superb ballad, will be introduced by a beautiful voice-piano duet. Tender as a Rose, a song by Phil Moore, on which the singer interweaves a poem by Abbey (On Being High), translated into French, is an original highlight of the concert. Remember the People, a co-composition by Marion and Archie Shepp (who will be featured on the album to be released this autumn).
Also of note is Charlie Haden’s beautiful First Song, in the form of a voice-bass duet. Bird Alone closes the concert.
The lone bird circles the sky. A concert ending evoking a slightly tense atmosphere.
Tambourine Man, for the encore, ends on a lighter note.
Musical gatherings:
- A dream quartet for «First Meeting» : Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Eric Harland, Larry Grenadier.
The pianist, present in 2023 with Pierrick Pédron for a memorable concert, seems a bit like the master builder where each musician finds his own space for freedom.
Cover versions, such as Chick Corea’s 500 Miles High, which opens the concert, but also the contribution of each musician for compositions where virtuosity, complicity and mutual listening offer us a rich, inventive and jubilant music.
- Tribute to Paco de Lucia
Chano Dominguez, Louis Winsberg and Antonio Lizana’s quintet for a tribute to the flamenco guitarist gone 11 years ago.
Paco de Lucia would not have missed this tribute, which began with Chano Dominguez alone on stage.
The Andalusian pianist, rich in multiple influences (flamenco, jazz, classical) plays 2 pieces before being joined on stage by saxophonist Shayan Fati and El Mawi from Cadiz.
Handclaps from the latter 2, saxophone solos and flamenco vocals from Antonio Lizana raise the temperature in the Salle Marcel Hélie.
Then Daniel Garcia, the quintet’s brilliant pianist, takes Chano Dominguez‘s place, and Louis Winsberg makes his entrance. Jazz and flamenco blend in a variety of styles.
Antonio Lizana‘s vocals and El Mawi de Cadiz‘s tap and dance were sure to thrill the audience.
Top concerts
- New York Tango trio Richard Galliano, Adrien Moignard, Philippe Aerts.
Not without a sense of humor, the accordionist recalls that he came to Coutances when Adrien Moignard, the guitarist, was less than 3 years old. And always with a sense of humor, Richard Galliano opens the concert with Vuelvo al Sur . Just in time for Coutances! Followed by Fou rire, Spleen, Gisèle (his wife), Viaggio, Waltz for Nicky…
Humor in the presentation of his pieces, but also in their interpretation, with “quotations” regularly peppering the tunes. A fresh breeze blows through waltzes and tangos, thanks of course to the talent of the accordionist, but also to his 2 accomplices, who provide more than just a beautiful backdrop. The concert concludes with La Javanaise, covered by the audience.
- African Jazz Roots
Simon Goubert, Abblaye Cissoko, Sophia Domancich, Jean-Philippe Viret, Ibrahima «Ibou» Ndlr
It is under Simon Goubert’s sticks and Abblaye Cissoko‘s strings that the 44th edition kicks off.
Seetu, the title of their latest album, meaning “reflection” or “mirror” in Wolof, is the main theme of the tracks on display under the woodwork and stained-glass windows of Magic Mirrors.
An African-Western encounter that lives up to all its promises, the kora-drums and kora-piano exchanges in particular taking us on a journey to the great outdoors, to the banks of the Senegal River in St-Louis or Dakar. A superb musical voyage to kick off this 44th edition.
The shock
Kahil El Zabar – Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, at the TMC.
I hardly dare confess that I didn’t know Kahil El Zabar.
And it was almost by chance that I attended the concert.
A shock, a revelation!
He confides that he has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderley, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon…
Surrounded by an original line-up of saxophone, trumpet and cello, the percussionist and his Ethnic Héritage Ensemble offer us a concert where influences stretch from ancient Africa to the modern world. It’s his whole body and voice that are involved in his musical expression, superbly aided by the 2 blowers, Corey Wilkes and Kevin Nabors.
The vocals act as wails, incantations… A veritable ode to Great Black Music, blending jazz, blues and spirituals.
Line Up:
Kahil El Zabar, drums, percussions ;
Corey Wilkes, trumpet ;
Kevin Nabors, tenor saxophone ;
Ishmael Ali, cello
And more…
Great moments also with Yaron Herman in quartet with the Swiss saxophonist Alexandra Grimal. The Looking for Mingus by Géraldine Laurent .
Or How to bring Charlie Mingus’ work to life without a double bass.
Like this version of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, which opens with an introduction by Manu Codjia, then Géraldine Laurent gradually introduces the theme of this now-standard, before Christophe Marguet and then Jean-Charles Richard join in the development.
A finely chiselled jewel!
A successful challenge, with high marks.
The Bad Plus trio becomes a quartet with Chris Speed on saxophone and Be Monder on guitar to replace pianist Orrin Evans…
The newcomers performing for the 1st time in France with the band. All that was missing was the guitarist’s smile.
A slot reserved for the Normandy jazz scene on the Magic Mirrors stage with Héloïse Divilly, well accompanied by Sébastien Palis on piano, Paul Jarret on electric guitar, Catherine Delaunay on clarinet and Hélène Labarrière on double bass.
A top-notch cast for a music full of contrasts and poetic inspirations.
Then Vérona takes over.
Although the band’s name evokes Italy, the quintet presents a Nordic-inspired repertoire, illustrated by compositions by Norwegian saxophonist Ola Asdahl Rokkones.
Line Up:
Samuel Belhomme: tumpet and flughorn
François Chesnel: piano
Rémy Garçon: saxophones
Bernard Cochin: doublebass
Ariel Mamane: drums.
- The concerts in the cathedrale :
Two duos or nothing:
Airelle Besson – Lionel Suarez
and…
Pierre-François Blanchard – Thomas Savy.
This majestic religious edifice was the setting for 2 very fine intimate recitals.
A pure delight!
The residents
Marion Rampal and Robinson Khoury arę going to achieve their second residency year. Each with his or her own desires.
- Robinson Khoury, thinking of the residency as a laboratory and faithful to its open-mindedness, has proposed 2 creations for this edition: a creation with Claire Lamothe, a circus dancer-choreographer, entering the category of street performances. “I’ve never done it before” he says, so…Quatuor Demi-Lune, in which the trombonist aspires to rediscover his classical culture, blending ancient, modal, Mediterranean and contemporary music with Lina Bélaïd, cello, Eve Risser, piano and Simon Drapier,
Marion Rampal has adopted a different approach: strengthening the cohesion of her current group and, of course, working on her creation Song for Abbey with the same group, “at the expense of encounters”, she adds.
Over the course of the year, Marion worked every 15 days with two classes of 3rd graders, focusing on voice, video, feminist discourse and domestic violence.During the festival, she supervised the Collège Prévert music class.Finally, next year Robinson Khoury and Marion Rampal will be working on a joint project to mark the end of their residency.
We are all impatients !
Of course, this selective presentation is far from echoing the 64 concerts programmed and all the other events: street shows, the Avis aux Amateurs stage, peripheral events and concerts in Coutances, Dimanche en Fanfares (e.g. Balkan Paradise Orchestra, a wild Catalan brass band made up of 10 women).
For this 44th edition, Jazz Sous Les Pommiers continues to assert its personality and position itself as one of the biggest (jazz!) festivals in France.
The diversity of the program, from the oldest jazz to the most open forms of other worlds and musics, where everyone, whatever their age, can find something to enjoy.
It’s also a place of discovery, far removed from barriers or other constraints.
A close-knit organizing team, loyal and in-sync volunteers (over 500), a town that lives and breathes the festival, the ecological transition, a friendly and popular atmosphere: all these ingredients contribute to this success.
See you next year from May 8 to 16!
All for Jazz Sous les Pommiers 2026!
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
©Photos Philippe Colliot for Couleurs Jazz.
Translated with the help ofwww.DeepL.com/Translator
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