Photograph of Dianne Reeves by Jerris Madison sourced from the Jazz A Juan website https://jazzajuan.com/

64TH JAZZ A JUAN
PINÈDE GOULD, JUAN-LES-PINS, FRANCE
10 - 20 JULY 2025
PART 1

EMILE LONDONIEN, 10/07/2025

The 64th edition of Jazz A Juan kicked off in thoroughly contemporary style with fast rising Strasbourg trio ÉMILE LONDONIEN launching the ten days of music in the PinédeGould’s open air arena that seats 2800.

I had seen their line-up of bass guitar, keys and drums play a full set in a very different environment and to a younger audience in March as one half of a double header in March, and my review of this can be found here
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/leon-phal-quintet-emile-londonien-stockfish-nice-france-21-03-2025

Tonight they were allowed just a little over half an hour to display their talent but it was long enough for all three members to impress as soloists once again. Even more impressive was the quality of their compositions, they do have some very melodic tunes, and of their ensemble playing.

In some numbers ideas follow one another with such rapidity it can be ‘a challenge’ to keep up, Even though what now they are playing felt more composed than when first I encountered them in 2023 at the Nice Jazz Festival the trio’s ensemble playing has retained the spark of improvisational vitality that I found very attractive then.

I did feel that they omitted the more extreme moments of the set I heard them play in March. Even the drummer’s big solo seemed a little constrained compared to what I’d heard then. Overall though a good start, and the festival is to be congratulated for choosing to put on Emile Londonien. I had wondered how the Jazz A Juan audience would react to them, but the Strasbourg trio went down well.

DIANNE REEVES, 11/07/2025

The next night promised to be one of the big night’s at the Festival this year. The first of the two acts was five time Grammy winner DIANNE REEVES. I saw Reeves and her four musicians at the Nice Jazz Festival in 2023, a report of which is part of my coverage of that festival:
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/nice-jazz-festival-2023-part-two-20th-and-21st-july-2023

For the current tour Chico Pinheiro, with whom Reeves has recorded duets, is on guitar instead of fellow Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo It was the band who got things rolling’ with an instrumental before Reeves entered and sang Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ from ‘Rumours’ in a version arranged for her by Robert Glasper. Pinheiro’s guitar featured strongly and Reeves voice rose in power as the song progressed.

The velvet quality and range of her voice impressed,  including when she engaged with the audience by singing “We’ve got lots of music for you. You can clap your hands stamp your feet, whatever makes you feel good”.

For part of the set Reeves sang seated but when exuberantly scatting Pat Metheny’s ‘Minuano’ and bringing African tones in towards the end, it was as if the energy and enjoyment she was generating propelled her back onto her feet to revel even more in the moment. A highlight not only of the set but of the whole festival.

The final number was Reeves humorously singing the praises the members of her excellent band over a steady funky groove by imitating the sound of the instrument they played. Earlier she had sung Horace Silver’s ‘Peace’ most movingly accompanied almost only by her pianist John Beesley, and her final words on the night were “We stand for peace in Gaza, in Sudan, in Ukraine, in the Congo and in our own Country.”

It was a pity that she was not permitted an encore which the sold out audience wanted and she deserved after what was a superb set, but the stage had to be prepared for Jamie Cullum and his band of three guitars, brass, percussion and two backing singers.

JAMIE CULLUM, 11/07/2025

It was Cullum’s sixth Jazz A Juan concert and when he made his entrance he was greeted by loud cheers. His first Jazz A Juan concert was in 2006 and almost twenty years later he still retains his boyish energy and charm, and this combined with his mix of jazz and pop continues to be a guarantee for good vibes. If on this occasion he did not attempt to clamber into the stands as he did in 2017, he did enter audience to shake as many hands as he could.

The songs flowed seemingly effortlessly from Cullum and his well practised band.. .There were plenty of Cullum classics in the set list e.g. ’ Taller’, ‘Twenty Something’, ‘These are the Days’, as well as his almost meditative version of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’.

Cullum said ’ Everybody wants to be a Cat’ was only added to the set list a couple of nights earlier as the result of an audience request. However it was a highlight with a laid back bass solo from Loz Garatt followed by a fiery trumpet solo from the excellent Rory Simmonds, in a performance from Cullum and his crew that once more left the Jazz A Juan audience sated.

BASTILLE DAY CONCERT feat. XHITONG XU’S X SHAPE, MARION RAMPAL, MACHA GHARIBIAN, 14/07/2025

As is traditional at Jazz A Juan on the celebration of French National Day, 14th of July, there was a free concert. One element of this is there is usually a performance from a group associated with another festival with which Jazz A Juan exchanges groups.

When I first started coming to Jazz A Juan it was the Red Sea Jazz Festival and the first time I saw the now celebrated Israeli pianist Shai Maestro and his trio performing it was at a 14th July concert on the Pinède Gould stage.

Currently Jazz A Juan has a partnership with the Shanghai Jazz Festival and the first group on stage was drummer XHITONG XU’S X SHAPE who had an interesting line -up of tenor and alto saxes with the altoist switching to soprano for one number and double bass, and all were European players. (I did search the internet but failed to any information about the band..Presumably they are all over Chinese media). Curiously while all the players in his band played impressive solos, leader Xu did not solo.

None of the numbers were announced but Xu said they were all from the band’s forthcoming debut album. In one the two saxes swirled over a drum and bass pulse, another sounded as if it could be the theme music for a film noir while another with the altoist having switched to soprano sax was chamber jazz There were both good solos and good ensemble playing and they were warmly applauded by the holiday audience.

MARION RAMPAL

Next was MARION RAMPAL. The publicity said she is inspired by blues and by jazz, and has collaborated with Archie Shepp. Unfortunately I could not detect any traces of any this in her performance which was was attractive French pop that went down well with the audience.

MACHA GHARIBIAN

There was a lot more jazz in the performance of Franco-Arminian pianist composer MACHA GHARIBIAN who has spent time in the New York jazz scene Backed by an understated rhythm section that had a touch of class, and blessed with an appealing and expressive voice and a nice touch on the piano, she combined her New York experience, her Arminian heritage and her admiration for female vocalists such as Nina Simone and Joni Mitchell. As the set went on she drew you in more and more.

The majority of the songs were slow or medium paced, and she finished with a setting of an old Arminian song that sounded like a lament.

About half-way through Cannes’ big firework display started and was clearly visible across the bay. Enjoyable and at times beautiful as Macha Gharibian performance was, arguably her style was not best suited to being the final act of a concert celebrating French National Day. I’d have liked a few more fireworks on stage.

COLIN MAY

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