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Nice Jazz Festival 2015

French Riviera Travel News Posted on April 13, 2015 by JeanneApril 13, 2015
The Roots

The Roots

Ask and ye shall receive. Last year I bemoaned the fact that the Nice Jazz Festival was relying too much on regulars. Sponsored by singer/pianist Jamie Cullum, this year’s program presents several rarely-seen-in-Nice artists such as Brad Mehldau, The Roots, Jason Moran and Roberto Fonseca. In addition to up-and-coming artists, look out for jazz legends Cassandra Wilson, Kenny Barron and Charles Lloyd as well as soul artists Lauryn Hill and Kool and the Gang.

The price has not gone up (yay!), remaining at €35 (€31 if purchased before 15 May) with a variety of reductions available. Check out the Nice Jazz Festival site (in French) for all prices and booking and to this page for English language info, tips and explanations on the infrastructure.

Here’s the Nice Jazz Festival Calendar:

Tuesday 7 July

Teatre de Verdure

19h30 – Fred D’Oelsnitz Trio

20h45 – Omer Klein Trio

22h30 – Cassandra Wilson, “Coming Forth By Day”

Scene Massena

20h00 Too Many Zooz “Brasshouse”

21h15 – Caravan Palace

23h00 – Jamie Cullum

Wednesday 8 July

Teatre de Verdure

19h30 – Indra Rios Moore

20h45 Kenny Barron

22h30 – Charles Lloyd Quartet

Scene Massena

20h00 – Benjamin Clementine

21h15 – Jungle

23h00 – Asaf Avidan

Thursday 9 July

Teatre de Verdure

19h30 – Grégory Privat & Sonny Troupé, “Luminiescence”

20h45 – Brad Mehldau Trio

22h30 – Kurt Elling, “Passion World”

Scene Massena

20h00 – Ibeyi

24h15 Hiatus Coyote

23h00 – Lauryn Hill

Friday 10 July

Teatre de Verdure

19h30 – Hugh Coltman, “Shadows – Songs of Nat King Cole ”

20h45- Eric Legnini, “What’d I Say” feat. Sandra Nkaké & Kellylee Evans

22h30 – Yael Naim

Scene Massena

20h00 Liv Warfield

21.15 Hindi Zahra

23h00 – Cerrone

Saturday July 11

Teatre de Verdure

19h30 – Andrea Motis & Joan Chamorro

20h45 – Jason Moran, “Fats Waller Dance Party”

22h30 – Roberto Fonseca and Fatoumata Diawara ,”At Home”

Scene Massena

20h00 – Monophonics

21H15 – Larry Graham & Graham Central Station

23h00 The Roots

Sunday 12 July

Scene Massena

11h Free Concert London Gospel Choir

20h30 Soul Rebels

23h00 Kool and the Gang

Posted in Events, Nice, Nice Jazz Festival, Travel News

Nice Jazz Festival 2014

French Riviera Travel News Posted on July 17, 2014 by JeanneJuly 17, 2014
Joshua Redman at the Nice Jazz Festival

Joshua Redman at the Nice Jazz Festival

Well that was a big improvement! Last year’s festival was marred by the not-quite-finished construction of the Coulée Verte, the stretch of park and promenade that extends the Jardins Albert 1er where the festival is held. The festival space is much more attractive now that the landscaping is finished. Winding walkways lined with trees and flowering bushes open onto a new and spacious dining area, the Place Yitzhak Rabin, with food stalls and picnic tables. It’s a pleasant place to nibble and listen to the sounds coming from the Masséna stage. In fact, the music from the Masséna stage can be enjoyed from the bordering streets for those wishing to save €35 for a ticket! The ambiance is not the same though.

The other stage is the Théâtre de Verdure, a more traditional venue, where seats are arranged in a semi-circle around the stage. The two stages are set far apart in an effort to keep the sounds from the larger Masséna which hosts the more blockbuster acts, from bleeding onto the Verdure crowd. Much progress had been made on that front mainly because the acts start at different times.

Truly blockbuster acts were in short supply this year. (See the program here) The headliners at the Scene Masséna drew niche crowds: Deep Purple for nostalgic oldsters; Metronomy and Electro Deluxe for youngsters; Gipsy Kings and Ibrahim Maalouf for World Music fans. There was no major pop star either on the way down or on the way up to pull in the crowds. That may be one reason why attendance has slipped 15% since last year. 

On the other hand, more people stuffed into the standing space of Scene Masséna is not a devoutly wished for pleasure. The space still seems much too crowded and reaching the back in search of more room seemed like an all night project.

The Théâtre de Verdure was much more comfortable and I had no problem finding a seat this year. Nice for the audience but not so nice for the festival’s bottom line. In addition to the usual reasons for this year’s relatively weak numbers–capricious weather, the World Cup, a gloomy economy–the festival could also use some new acts. By new, I mean new to the region. Artists such as Dr John, Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Richard Galliano, Nikki Yanofsky have made regular appearances here and at the Jazz a Juan festival in nearby Juan-les-Pins over the last few years. Although they are great artists, there are others out there to enliven the program.

It was a great pleasure to hear Christian McBride once again however. His group was dynamic, especially Christian Sands on the piano and his set was beautifully balanced and emotional.

The word is that next year there will be an extra night of music which should bring some welcome surprises.

Posted in Events, Nice, Nice Jazz Festival, Travel News

Nice Jazz Festival Roundup

French Riviera Travel News Posted on July 15, 2013 by JeanneJuly 15, 2013
Esperanza Spalding © Carlos Pericas

Esperanza Spalding © Carlos Pericas

The Nice Jazz Festival has come to a close and, overall, the results have been positive at least for visitor numbers. With a record 38,000 attendees the festival clearly has no trouble filling the Jardins Albert 1er where the festival now takes place since moving from Cimiez two years ago. For the first time the ticket windows displayed a Complet (Full) sign on the evening of July 10 when C2C, the French turntable group, helped draw 9,000 visitors. OK, it’s not really jazz but branching out into other genres seems to be the formula for success at this festival.

Fortunately jazz-lovers also had a lot to celebrate. Presenting  jazz artists such as  Christian Scott,  Chick Corea & The Vigil, Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding, and the delightfully avant-garde Youn Sun Nah displayed a sense of adventure in keeping with the festival’s traditions. Those who prefer their jazz mixed with soul, groove or funk bopped along with George Benson, Earth, Wind and Fire and Maceo Parker.  Local pride was also on the program in the person of legendary drummer André Ceccarelli, born in Nice and the festival’s parrain (godfather).

Certain structural problems have yet to be solved. Construction of Nice’s new garden promenade through the Jardins Albert 1er was not yet finished which left parts of the venue looking like a hastily-decorated parking lot. The shrubbery and palms that appeared to be installed only hours before the first concert provided a touch of greenery that one can only hope will expand. As always, the crowded and standing-only Scene Massena was an extraordinarily uncomfortable way to experience music. Perhaps as the festival evolves organizers will find a way to install some sort of seating space in the rear as the sight lines are good.

In the past, the musicians in the Theatre de Verdure struggled to compete with the much louder music emanating from the Scene Massena. It’s still a problem but it helped that the programming schedule was changed to allow the Theatre de Verdure to start 30-minutes earlier. Several groups clearly made the decision to play their softer, more contemplative pieces at the beginning.

See practical information for the Nice Jazz Festival.

 

 

Posted in Events, Nice, Nice Jazz Festival

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