Souillac en Jazz 2026 – Three days of jazz in the heart of the Lot.

Souillac en Jazz? Whole a lotta Lot! That’s what the many British residents of the Lot department might say, as the festival celebrates its 50th anniversary in style and is proud that, for the occasion, La Poste has issued a stamp honoring the town and the event, thereby giving it national recognition.

It must be said that the lineup curated by Robert Peyrillou, the director of Souillac en Jazz, is particularly enticing and diverse this year. It kicks off on Thursday, July 23, with Emile Parisien’s new band, Floating, whose album is set to be released in a few months.

Emile Parisien is something of a local son, and while this isn’t the first time he’s performed in Souillac, he’s particularly happy to be playing this year in his home region, so it makes perfect sense for him to kick off this 50th edition of Souillac en Jazz. Floating is a highly international group, bringing together Israeli pianist Yaron Herman (with whom Parisien has played on numerous occasions), Australian double bassist Linda May Han Oh—who has performed with Dave Douglas and Pat Metheny, among others—and Indian percussionist Prabhu Edouard. A unique ensemble, then, in which Parisien presents a number of new compositions. While his magnificent soprano saxophone sound remains the hallmark of his group, one can sense a desire to move toward greater serenity and different tonal colors, brought in part by Prabhu Edouard’s tablas and Indian percussion. Yaron Herman, the quartet’s other lead soloist, delivers magnificent melodic lines with an adventurous phrasing that works wonders both in accompaniment and in his solos; he also contributes to the repertoire with, among other pieces, a theme he begins as a solo with a luminous touch before Parisien and the rhythm section join in. It is the double bassist who begins the next piece with a solo, featuring a superb woody tone and a supple drive that carries the rest of the quartet along on a swaying theme with beautiful Eastern folk accents.  The next theme features a dialogue between the three musicians and the percussionist in a call-and-response style, with Edouard performing vocal percussion in a duet with the double bass. The piece that follows is a lovely ballad with a crystal-clear melody, and it’s evident here that Emile Parisien has decided to embrace greater simplicity than with his “historic” quartet and to give his accompanists more room to shine, as in an intensely lyrical duet with Yaron Herman during the encore. This is a sign of the full-blown maturity of a musician who has always cultivated stylistic eclecticism while asserting an original personality that allows him to embark on this new adventure by enriching his palette of sounds. A packed house and a standing ovation for this remarkable concert.

The next day, Friday the 24th, two concerts were held for the large crowd gathered in a large square adjacent to the magnificent Souillac Abbey.

The Duo Brady is, in a way, the cello in all its forms. Two cellos is an unusual combination, and these two musicians have a knack for storytelling, as each of their pieces tells a little tale about the future of humanity—from the Arctic ice cap to the planet Mars. Whether played with a bow or pizzicato, they draw us into their world, where the beauty of their sounds blends with swing and poetic flights of fancy, transforming their instruments into vehicles for a journey to the far reaches of music, across all genres.

Then Youn Sun Nah’s voice rises after she plucks a few notes on the mbira, and the spell is cast at once. Bojan Z accompanies her on electric piano and then on acoustic piano with phrasing that is completely attuned to her, in sumptuous chords and delicate arpeggios. Then the piano takes on a more percussive quality while her voice launches into an adventurous scat that soars into the high notes. Youn has been presenting this program—a tribute to the female voices that have influenced her—for several years now, ever since the release of the album *Elles* (reviewed right here), featuring various keyboardists, and the version with Bojan is one of the most compelling. Youn’s voice hadn’t been laid bare like this since her original duet with Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius, and it is with Bojan that she reveals herself most convincingly. It must be said that the pianist—who hasn’t often had the opportunity to accompany vocalists—takes great pleasure in this collaboration with one of the most renowned singers in the jazz world, who gives him plenty of room to express himself in his solo passages. And when Bojan begins playing percussively on the soundboard and the piano lid while the Rhodes plays a repetitive melodic-rhythmic loop, Youn’s voice takes on utterly stunning rock-inspired inflections. Indeed, from a whisper to a scream, this singer can pull off anything, and together with Bojan, she creates an enchanting atmosphere that, against the backdrop of the walls of Souillac Abbey, takes on an almost mystical quality. For the encore, she performs a Tom Waits song, adopting a gravelly tone before soaring into the high notes of an opera diva. And quite naturally, the audience rises to its feet for a well-deserved standing ovation.

For the final evening—which was held at the Palais des Congrès due to inclement weather—a brand-new ensemble drew a large crowd: New Sketches of Spain, co-led by French trumpeter Erik Truffaz and Spanish saxophonist and singer Antonio Lizana, the group aims to pay tribute to Miles Davis and Gil Evans’ *Sketches of Spain* to celebrate the centennial of the trumpeter’s birth. The concert begins, as one might expect, with a flamenco guitar solo over which Erik Truffaz weaves the melody of the Concierto de Aranjuez. Then, when the entire band joins in, we’re immersed in the flamenco atmosphere that Lizana brings to life with remarkable vocal power, while a dancer dressed entirely in red moves gracefully in a corner of the stage. Truffaz’s solo that follows has a distinct Miles Davis feel, but it’s Lizana who truly sets himself apart with a raging, sinuous alto sax solo. The flamenco guitar, played solo, possesses a sumptuous tone and beautifully supports Lizana’s vocals, accompanied by a stunning arrangement in which the bass clarinet and trumpet, among others, stand out. In fact, it is the clarinetist who composed and arranged several pieces, and he is therefore partly responsible for the band’s distinctive sound. A dense, vibrant sound that showcases the solos of the ensemble’s two co-leaders. In a duet with the dancer—who produces resounding percussion with her feet—Lizana demonstrates the full extent of his talent: intense, fluid phrasing and a heady timbre. This is a far cry from the version by Miles Davis and Gil Evans, but these are precisely new sketches of Spain, and the connection to Iberian tradition is far more pronounced than in Miles’s opus, which drew on a fantasized vision of Spain. The Iberian Peninsula is increasingly present on the international jazz scene, and this ensemble is a magnificent example of that. When the bass clarinet kicks off a new piece with a solo, we’re clearly in uncharted territory, and the audience doesn’t hesitate to clap along to a binary rhythm where the electric bass takes the lead. One of this group’s strengths is the contrast between the two co-leaders: one more introverted, the other more extroverted. For while Truffaz and Lizana had never worked together before launching this project, they have clearly found in each other a complementary partnership that gives this group its unique flavor and constitutes one of the most beautiful tributes one could pay to Miles Davis. And this beautiful concert came to a close with a stripped-down finale: guitar, trumpet, and vocals, followed by one final encore in which Lizana switched from the alto saxophone to a more ethereal flute—a magnificent way to let the audience disperse into the Souillac night. 

All in all, it was an excellent edition of this fifty-year-old festival, both in terms of the diversity and quality of the lineup and the professionalism of the organization, which is handled by a wonderful team of volunteers. The artists were all eager to congratulate them, and they will ensure the continued success of Souillac en Jazz for years and decades to come.

©Photos by Jean Claude Elisas Colors Jazz, 2026. All reproduction, even partial, is prohibited without prior authorization.