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Jean-Baptiste Ferré was born in Paris on a 14th of October to a French mother and a Guadeloupean father. At the age of six he began playing the piano at the conservatoire, which he left as he felt it didn’t quite suit himself. He took private jazz lessons, listened again and again to the pianists he admired (Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Brad Meldheau), borrowing things here and there, spicing them up, making them his own. And then, as a teenager, he soon rubbed shoulders with the stage and performed in Parisian clubs and bars. He made a major encounter: that of a musician from Alpha Blondy with whom he went on an international tour for his show “Dieu” in 1994. At the same time, he worked with the band Raï Kum, recorded an album under the St Gorges/Sony label. In 1996, he joined the Orchestre National de Barbès with which he toured the world, performed on prestigious stages and festivals until 2001 and co-wrote two albums: the live album (gold disc) and Poulina, both on Virgin records. Since 2001 he has collaborated with many artists such as Sapho, Rido Bayonne and his afro jazz big band, Amina, Naab, Sofiane Saïdi, recording, co-composing and co- producing numerous albums. Between 2005 and 2013 he accompanied Marc Lavoine, Amel Bent and Boulbar on stage. In 2013, he arranged “Sounds of Freedom”, Ilene Barnes’ opening show for the Rhino Jazz Festival at the Opera of St Etienne. He worked with Ilene for over 10 years. He produced the albums Rumix by Uma Nouba and El Mordjane by Sofiane Saidi in 2010 and has accompanied the promising soul singer Emna on tour and on her album (to be released in early 2018) since 2016. Jean-Baptiste Ferré is an eccentric and distinguished dandy who cultivates elegance and subtlety. His sensitivity, kept rather hidden until now, is unveiled on his first album MAMBAS (to be released in September 2018 by In Ouïe distribution), where it reveals, asserts and finally accepts itself. The album was recorded at Box’Son and POA studios, mixed and mastered by Philippe Teissier Du Cros. The word Mambas, imagined by Jean-Baptiste, inspires and invites us to join in a dance felt intuitively, in turn throbbing, percussive and emotional. As we listen, we sway and dance. MAMBAS, (jazz /world music / hip-hop), blends the oriental talent of oud and qanûn, African polyrhythms, welcomes scat, modern Arabic oud, delivers stories of love, friendship and slices of life. The charismatic front-man Naab from Hip-Hop culture, half a shaman, a showman for sure, brings his unique flow of energy and poetry to Mambas. The modern world meets and enriches tradition. Oriental sounds are married to the vintage vibes of the rodhes, while Moroccan rhythms accentuate jazz harmonies and electro touches accompany the piano.

Twelve songs from the Aegean Sea interpreted like so many creations with the freshness, intensity and clarity of a first romantic encounter.  Born in 1992 in Paris of a Greek father and French mother, DAFNÉ KRITHARAS’s inspiration lies at the crossroads of the Eastern and Western worlds. She grew up to the sound of Judeo-Spanish songs interpreted by her cousin, the cellist Bahia El Bacha. Very early on, singing as a means to express the intimate realm became obvious to her. She sings in Greek and Judeo-Spanish, as well as in French, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish or Turkish, attune with the discoveries and travels she shares with her partner: guitarist and songwriter PAUL BARREYRE. The album “Djoyas de mar” features twelve tracks, including seven in Greek and five in Judeo-Spanish. With their mixed in uence, these songs are linked to the experience of exile and uprooting. Musical arrangements are by pianist, improviser and composer CAMILLE EL BACHA.He is currently exploring his musical universe with Jean-François Zygel at the CNDSMDP (Paris National Conservatory for Dance and Music). NAGHIB SHANBEHZADEH, young prodigy of Eastern percussion and founding member, alongside his father, of the Shanbehzadeh Ensemble, has added his personal touch to the album.The album “Djoyas de mar” was recorded under the artistic direction of THOMAS VINGTRINIER (Sirba Octet, Manu Chao, Michel Portal, Edna Stern…) in September 2017 at Studio Sequenza.

This new release from Cumbia Chicharra is likely to make you roar. Luxuriance invades the city to the sound of drums. The cumbia spreads to the hips and contaminates all musical continents from afrobeat and Caribbean groove to funk and sulphurous dub. The new compositions of the group were born somewhere between a tour of Chile and the Marseillan night. The inspiration spreads, it doesn’t enclose itself in one style or landscape. Themes of Colombia or Cuba, respond to percussive and sonic discoveries, the psyche and trance are never far away. “Hijo de Tigre” – (Son of Tiger). This third album from Cumbia Chicharra is energizing and sensual. A brilliant step in the long adventure of this frenzied collective of musicians.

“Afrique my longing” lies at the confluence of poetry and music with as main actors the multi-award winning South African singer and composer, Laurinda Hofmeyr, famous for setting poetry to music, and the bassist and musical producer Schalk Joubert. Together with a world class ensemble of West African singers and musicians currently living in Cape Town, they explore a wealth of African poetry from Francophone Madagascar to Mauritania, Senegal to Chad, and all the way back to South African shores with the Afrikaans poetry of Breyten Breytenbach and Antjie Krog. Combined with African-inspired melodies, the literary masterpieces were written by JJ Rabearivelo, Veronique Tadjo, Nimrod, Patrice Nganang, and Ousmane Moussa Diagana gave birth to the concept of “Afrique mon Désir”, which draws quintessence of its energy in cultural miscegenation. The production was launched in South Africa at the 2018 Woordfees (Literature Festival) in Stellenbosch in March and was staged at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival in Oudtshoorn in April 2018. It can also be seen at various other venues around the country throughout the year. In June 2018 there is a tour of France planned. The production is presented and supported by the Cape Town Music Academy (CTMA). CTMA is a not for profit company (NPC) that seeks to create opportunities for local, established and emerging musicians and related artists in the Western Cape. The objective of the CTMA is to conduct a public benefit activity which creates programmes and projects for the promotion of the work of local musicians, and the development of career opportunities in the South African music industry. “Africa my longing” album was recorded in June 2017, in Stellenbosch, South Africa, a picturesque town some 50 km from Cape Town. The album saw the participation of the Malagasy accordionist, Régis Gizavo, who sadly passed away a few weeks after its recording. The 13-track album will be released online and distributed by the French company In Ouïe Distribution from May 25, 2018.

Firmly rooted in all Mediterranean cultures, the original music by violinist Guillaume Dettmar is first and foremost a testament to his fierce desire to bring together several aesthetic universes and fuse them into one coherent whole. Carried along by culturally diverse artists eager to mix their passions and their different backgrounds, this project is far from being naïve, rather a perhaps necessary reminder that if this music, which is intended for all kinds of jazzification and the messiest of improvisations, cannot change the world any more than it can soften mores, then it can indeed allow for, at the very least, raising healthy awareness. This is what is essential. It was on the day after one of the (too) many bloody attacks in the Middle East that the violinist Guillaume Dettmar decided, in the way he knew best, to bear witness to the horror of the situation and express this fragile hope for peace so deeply shared by all human beings of good will. A way for warding off the curse! It was by taking this original repertoire back from off the shelf during an impromptu meeting, one both human and musical in a way only musicians know how, that the “United Colors of the Mediterranean” was managed to come to light and really take flight. From rehearsals in residence – in Chamonix, at André Manoukian‘s – concerts at festivals- Karellis, Carpentras, etc. – by way of the Saturday jazz sessions at Ô Jazz, the music has had it easy when it comes to fine-tuning itself, especially since being lucky enough to engage the ever-so swinging “services” of the world jazz luminary who came to settle down with his family in Orleans: the percussionist (marimba / vibraphone / drums) Jason Marsalis, the last in the family of famous musicians from New Orleans.

The DIPENDA project (Independence in the lingala language) was born from the aspiration to give the compostions, written by Fabrice Devienne for the production of the play Une saison au Congo, a new lease of life. The musical show resulting from this project groups 13 musicians singers and slammers onstage. Césaire’s play tells the story of the congoleseindependence process in 1960, through the rise and final assassination in 1961 of Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s first prime minister. Devoted body and soul to this struggle, PL managed to lead his country to independence. An independence that represented so much in terms of hope and sacrifice but also very soon, so much in terms of treachery, plotting and disillusion. In DIPENDA, a true fusion of artistic styles, the poetic and militant words of Césaire’s play meet Pitcho Wonga Konga’s writings reflecting on the wider issues of independence. This encounter is accompanied by a musical universe at the crossroads of Africa, Cuba and Jazz. The show unfolds as a musical tale. We are told a history and many stories of independence in French, they are sung to us in lingala, swahili and spanish. Independence includes such concepts as freedom of thought, of expression and the freedom to act. However, as history shows, it paradoxically also drives people into the upheavals of exile. This history of Congo in the sixties is present throughout the whole show, both through Césaire’s prose and conceptualisation of « négritude » and the cuban musical influences of some of the songs. Indeed, Cuba and the Congo have a strong economic, political and artistic link going back to the days of the slave trade. Most of the musicians on this project are active on the european jazz and world music scene. Their wide talents of improvisation echo the music and are in perfect tune with the aspirations of a people fighting for freedom and the full recognition of its rights. DIPENDA invites you to travel between several continents and to reflect on their common history – colonisation, post-independence and the economic, social and cultural migrations that followed. Slam, songs and music fuse together in a series of rhythmic, moving and sometimes dreamlike sequences in which different languages meet and mingle to create a new idiom in a new world of sound – somewhere between Africa, Europe and the Caribbean.

Caméléon Waltz, the title of Antoine Boyer’s new album, gives us the key to his approach. We know that one of the characteristics of the chameleon is its capacity to change color according to its moods and emotions. In this album, Antoine changes guitar throughout twelve short and intense pieces, all recorded solo (a perilous project, as no dubbing or re-cording was used). Nylon strings guitar on four tunes, steel strings guitar or electric jazz guitar on each of four others; three types of guitars that are also reminiscent of the three beats of the waltz. Antoine blends six covers of great musical variety, all performed with his own original arrangements, and six very personal and inspired compositions. Six in major keys six in minor keys, half of them binary, half of them ternary. However, no esoteric intent in this near-perfect balance; only a very precise approach aimed at exposing each guitar’s various sound possibilities. Using cords and melody, arpeggios and picking techniques, Antoine explores un every piece the polyphonic capabilities of the guitar, which he plays like a pianist (his admiration for Bill Evansis no surprise, as he covers We will meet again and dedicates Waltz for Bill to him). His approach, corking simultaneously at rhythmic, melodic and harmonic levels, yields great unity. These twelve demanding mediations, sometimes full of gravity, blending irresistibly powerful episodes with more peaceful moments, reflect a rare interiority and intensity for a 21-year-old musician. This isn’t only about guitar but also and especially music, played by a poet of the strings whose brillant technique never ceases to serve musical aesthetics.

French-Peruvian singer Christine Audat presents her first EP “ODA“, a dreamlike music odyssey between Paris and the Amazon. Rooted in a South American tradition that she passionately, respectfully and joyfully em-bodies and exudes as a member in several bands and with the Philharmonie de Paris, Christine Audat is a songwriter who draws inspiration from her love of polyphonies and swinging rhythms, from her dreams and haunting travels. Feeding off the landscapes, people and music from her years in Paris and South America, she sings the fantasies and flowing ideas from the two worlds abounding under her hair. Between emotion and concept, instinct and intellect, sound and meaning, her corporeal instrument reverberates gently and sensually in its search for resonances to be shared. As a melodist, the acoustic guitar was the natural place for her to land. On this first EP, her woody voice and guitar blend with the bandoneon, charango, violin and double-bass on arrangements delicately woven together with the one-man band Nicolás Agulló. On stage, she plays her own compositions and some personal covers that come from a South American repertoire she holds dear to her heart. ***** INFORMATION March 9, 2018: Release of the physical / digital EP by Quart de Lune / InOuïes Distribution Website: www.christineaudat-oda.com / www.oda-musique.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ODA-290710764312907/ Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/christineaudat

Teacher Jekyll was originally an experimental studio project launched by Olivier Corre, a producer, multi-instrumentalist and DJ from Nantes who wanted to mix Latin and tropical musics with electronic sounds and more urban rhythms (hip hop, dubstep, kuduro…). The aim was to give a fresher sound and more energy to traditional forms without changing their musical core…After the releasing of the first album Otro Sonido, Olivier Corre decided to play it on stage.  He first set up a trio : he was at the keyboards and machines, Charlotte Meas played the saxophone and the flute and Etienne Daunay aka Dj Don‘s did the scratching. The singer Monica Pereira quickly joined them and they gave many concerts in Nantes and around. By word of mouth they were encouraged to give more and more live performances which strengthened their energy on stage and their ability to move crowds only too happy to dance and sway on this warm world-fusion music. When on stage, the band likes inviting different artists for wild jam sessions. Olivier Corre did the same when he started to record the second album Mercado. Teacher Jekyll wants to be both cosmopolitan and intergenerational therefore you can hear on that record Marcia Maria, the great Brazilian singer who invented the samba funk style, the American musician Mellow Man Ace, brother of Sen Dog from Cypress Hill who is called ‘godfather of latin rap’… That album was heard by Claude Lebourgeois who is the musical programmer of  Colmar Wine Fair festival. He then invited the band to play the first part of Manu Chao‘s concert in 2016… It was a  great concert in front of 10000 people and even Claude was surprised by their performance : « It’s the first time I’ve ever seen in my whole career a first part set the stage on fire with such energy and passion !… » The following year, the band was invited to play in several festivals. Monica Pereira chose then to leave the band to boost her own solo career, she was replaced by the great Cuban singer Anais Ramos who quickly took in the musical universe while retaining her strong personality and passionate nature. It’s now time for the band to take a break for their third album. On this record, they welcome new artists they met on stage like the Portuguese Maxito or Cape Verdean Jowest… However, in keeping with the idea to mix generations, they also recorded Sam Alpha, a Martinican, well-known for his French creole version of Georges Brassens’s songs and Flaco Nunez, founding member of the band Orishas. This album follows the original spirit of Teacher Jekyll and mixes tradition and modern sounds. It a generous, festive yet profound record which was inspired by Cape Verdean musical styles (funana, morna…) as well as Brazilian (bossa nova, sambal) or Cuban ones… A modern tropical music without borders ! ***** INFORMATION Facebook: teacherjekyll Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/veev-com/sets/teacher-jekyll-ondas Live videos: @ Colmar (opening act of Manu Chao) @ Les Tropicantes

Stepping into Valérie Ékoumè’s world will be one of the most interesting and fulfilling experience you could have ! In her colorful world, love is king and afropop is the music she chooses to express it. After the great success of her first record, DJAALE, she is about to release her second opus KWIN NA KINGUE. In this new album, the singer and Guy Nwogang (producer) dig deeper into their Cameroonian roots. Giving us powerful and original songs mixed with Bikutsi or even Essèwè – traditional Cameroonian rhythms – So get ready to dance ! ***** INFORMATION Website: valerieekoume.fr Video clip: https://youtu.be/XucUk2n-HBw

One comes from an Afro-Oriental-Berber tradition while the other comes from a western tradition. Their duo could have simply been an East-meets-West encounter, but that would be underestimating Khalid and Marylene’s desire to explore a wider world and discover new cultures. SILLAGE’s origins lie in traditions from diverse horizons, a product of the artist’s utmost imagination yielding powerful songs and colourful rhythms. Song boosted by sparkling dialogues and playful onomatopoeias blossoms into unique and delightful music that is at once homogeneous and multifaceted. The songs are about Mother-Earth, the loving soul, joy, humor, nostalgia, tenderness. A true invitation to travel, SILLAGE opens up to a multicultural and poetic space, chanting tales on here and there, now and ever, life and togetherness. ***** INFORMATION Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/veev-com/sets/khalid-kouhen-marylene-ingremeau-sillage-1
 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/khalidetmarylene/
 Video clip: https://youtu.be/WT7RLwybjiw

With a solid background acquired at the Fest Noz festivals, these four bandmates lay out their vision of trance with danceable music open to the world ; Youn Kamm gives his trumpet-playing an eastern flair, from Lebanon and Turkey. Yann Le Corre has imbued his playing with Brazilian forrò. Jérôme Kerihuel has perfected his percussion technique in India. As for Timothée Le Bour, his saxophone resonates like a Romanian taragot. With circle dancing at its core, popular world music as its horizon, and improvisation as its line of flight, ‘Ndiaz comes out with hybrid music that knows no borders, one that must have sought elsewhere to find its means for taking root here. With the album Son’Rod, the band extends its musical refinement further into new regions of feeling with wider-ranging compositions; intense lights, twirling sounds, tribal spirits, urban energy … a beautiful way get hopping! The record is an anthem to shaking up geography! It pays tribute to constantly-moving musicians who easily bloom in different musical contexts. Their live act clears out a space for dancing, fed with the musicians’ desire to keep it spreading, to nuance it, sublimate it, to thereby evoke a need in the listeners to follow the path … to trace its route. ***** INFORMATION Website: ndiaz.bzh Souncloud: soundcloud.com/veev-com/sets/ndiaz-sonrod Facebook: ndiazmuzikbzh Live video Vidéo clip