For 160 years, the Théâtre du Châtelet, in the center of Paris, has been a meeting place for all cultures. Jazz regularly finds its place there, because it feels resolutely at home. And so do we.
Because first and foremost, audiences and musicians alike – including some of the most prestigious names – love coming here to hear the very best. In recent years, the Académie du Jazz has even held its annual general meeting here.
The universal language of jazz, its spirit of freedom shared throughout the world, will resonate in this week of May 2024 with musicians from the Parisian scene.
Because jazz is much more than just music,” says Jean-Louis Wiart on this website. “It’s a way of seeing, breathing and understanding life. We rightly speak of jazz attitude”. Guy Le Querrec tells us: “Being jazz is above all a way of living, of walking on the edge of chance to catch a shooting star”…
Why should you go to the Châtelet this May? Because jazz is the reconciliation of mind and body, says saxophonist Raphaël Imbert. And because the artistic direction has been entrusted to Serge Kolpa and Laurence Haxaire.
In particular, we’ll be able to listen to :
Thomas Dutronc, who has championed gypsy jazz for many years, and who knows how to surround himself with the best specialists in the genre.
On May 20 at 8 p.m., he will open the festival Le Châtelet fait son Jazz 2024 with an original creation. “We’ll be bringing swing tunes from the 1940s to life for an unprecedented journey through time and sound! “. A joyful moment for freedom-lovers, before a second part of the evening of gypsy jazz with a band of “Gypsies” who will ensure a festive atmosphere at the Châtelet…
On May 21, violinist and singer Aurore Voilqué joins forces with Simba Baumgartner, great-grandson of Django Reinhardt and virtuoso guitarist in the tradition of his great-grandfather. Gypsy jazz standards and French songs will be on the program.
On May 23, one of the highlights of the show will undoubtedly be a special concert by Laurent de Wilde:
A brilliant pianist and composer with just as many other strings to his bow.
He invites friends he’s met all over the world on his musical peregrinations – and that’s what’s so wonderful about the universal language of jazz!
The great Franco-Congolese pianist Ray Lema, with whom he has been crisscrossing the planet since 2016 in a piano duo where jazz meets Africa in a blend as explosive as it is harmonious (you can often listen to them on Couleurs Jazz Radio, of course…).
Also on the guest list is trumpeter Eddie Henderson (historic trumpeter of the Jazz Messengers, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner…), joined by virtuoso trombonist Daniel Zimmermann, whom we programmed at Jazz in Noyon last October, and virtuoso saxophonist Géraldine Laurent.
And to hold this exceptional ensemble together, drummer Donald Kontomanou and bassist Darryl Hall. A gang of killers!
In short, a concert not to be missed under any circumstances. (Roland Garros will only be in its early stages and Nadal already eliminated… which we don’t wish him, of course).
Another remarkable evening, on Friday May 24, features Canadian singer Molly Johnson, one of Canada’s finest vocal signatures.
Instinctive, natural and committed, Molly Johnson has created a funky, soulful, groovy jazz that’s very much her own. Her career began in the mid-60s with Porgy and Bess at Toronto’s Royal Alexander Theatre: she was barely ten years old. She went on to dance and rock before releasing her first jazz album in 2020, and today is just as at home with her own compositions as with the great classics of the repertoire. Particularly inspired by Billie Holiday, she claims the same quality for music as for active humanism. She is on stage, as elsewhere: a generous woman who loves, who dares, who vibrates, while singing…
The musicians: Vocals : Molly Johnson, Piano: Franck Amsallem, Drums: Donald Kontomanou, Double bass: Viktor Nyberg, Saxophone: Benjamin Petit.
Come and dance the Lindy Hop on Sunday, May 26 at 11am!
To mark the Châtelet fait son Jazz festival and World Lindy Hop Day, we’re offering a workshop to introduce you to this social dance of Afro-American origin, practiced in swing balls from the 1920s onwards.
This session is aimed at beginner Lindy Hop dancers and requires no previous experience. To get the ball rolling, a complimentary breakfast will be served before the workshop, starting at 10 a.m. in the Nijinski foyer and terrace.
The final day of the festival, Le Châtelet fait son Jazz, features two concerts by The Amazing Keystone Bigband!
Peter and the Wolf, an original and highly successful adaptation of Serge Prokofiev’s tale, which introduces us to the history of jazz, improvisation and the instruments of this music through its evolution and its different genres, in the same way that Prokofiev presented the classical orchestra.
The text of the tale as we know it is preserved, without losing any of its humor. On a score that ranges from bebop to cool, from funk to New Orleans jazz, Pierre is embodied by the string section (piano / double bass / guitar), the Wolf by the trombones and the Hunters by the trumpets and drums. It’s the perfect opportunity to bring the whole family to the show and discover this brilliant big band led by Bastien Ballaz, Jon Boutellier, Fred Nardin and David Enhco: The Amazing Keystone Big Band.
Then, at 7pm on May 26, The Amazing Keystone Big Band returns to the Théâtre du Châtelet stage for an all-new tribute concert to Ella Fitzgerald…
Winners of the Victoires du Jazz, the 17 musicians reinvent their emblematic “We Love Ella” project exclusively for the Théâtre du Châtelet. Focusing on the legendary public in the timeless world of jazz.
Finally, on Monday May 27, under the direction of Raphaël Imbert (almost the only man on stage! for once): “Women in Jazz“, an original concert in seven musical tableaux, the most astonishing and feminine concert of the year, with over 15 artists on stage at the Théâtre du Châtelet.
Among the marvellous guests will be : Sophie Alour, Kareen Guiock Thuram, Lena Aubert, Elvire Jouve, Celia Kameni, Sarah Lenka, Jeanne Michard, Sandra Nkake, Leila Olivesi, Estelle Perrault, Marion Rampal, Cecil L Recchia, Laure Sanchez, Julie Saury, Lou Tavano…
To see the program in more detail and book the tickets!
©Photo couverture. Blondin
Translated with the help of www.DeepL.com/Translator
RECENT COMMENTS