Dee Dee Bridgewater & The Amazing Keystone Bigband

Dee Dee Bridgewater & The Amazing Keystone Big Band  11:10am

Dee Dee Bridgewater rose to prominence in France in the mid-80s when she took on the role of Billie Holiday in the musical entitled Lady Day. Ever since, she has ceaselessly paid tribute to the great jazz divas who preceded her. Her new project, in partnership with the aptly named Amazing Keystone Big Band, is devoted to the virtuoso lyricism of the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald. The Amazing Keystone Big Band was crowned band of the year at Les Victoires du Jazz and described as “the best news in jazz for the past 10 years” by Le Monde. Its 17 musicians, led by Bastien Ballaz, Jon Boutellier, Fred Nardin and David Enhco, are behind this new, tailor-made version of their album, We Love Ella.

Alongside the Amazing Keystone Big Band, Dee Dee Bridgewater will lend her warm, swinging voice to a handful of standards forever associated with Ella’s genius, thereby re-establishing their steadfast validity.

André Manoukian 4tet & Balkanes + Livizz 09:50pm

For almost 20 years, André Manoukian has made repeated appearances on the television and radio, during which his commentary, both malicious and erudite, has been inimitable. Yet, as talented as he may be at sharing his passion for all forms of music, Manoukian is first and foremost a talented musician, a jazz pianist, the creator of the Cosmo Jazz Festival, a songwriter and above all, since the mid-80s, a producer turned expert at showcasing women’s voices (from Liane Foly’s to Malia’s).

His latest project with Anouch is without doubt his most daring and personal yet and has him leading a large orchestral ensemble. His regular quartet has teamed up with vocal trio Balkanes and, especially for Jazz à Vienne, a choir from Vienne called Livizz that is directed by Frédérique Brun. Manoukian takes a dive into the most intimate depths of his family annals, which he sets to luxuriant rhythms borrowed from Eastern traditions. Through its evocation of his grandmother and the long trek of over 1000 km she had to undertake during the Armenian genocide, André Manoukian’s work is deeply moving, both intimate and epic, sensual and melancholic, rich with the vivid memory of a martyred, phoenix-like people.