Photograph of Meshell Ndegeocello by Andre Wagner sourced from the Jazz A Juan website https://jazzajuan.com/

64 TH JAZZ A JUAN
PINÈDE GOULD, JUAN-LES-PINS
10- 20 JULY 2025
PART 2

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, 16/07/2025

Bassist, composer and singer MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO led her group in her tribute to writer James Baldwin (1924-1987) with music from her album ‘No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin.”

The set had added poignancy as Baldwin almost certainly knew Juan-Les- Pins well as for sixteen years his base was a house the hillside village St Paul de Vence not far from Juan, This house is where he died and is known still as ‘Chez Baldwin’.

Inevitably whether this performance stood or fell depended on how well, the words whether Baldwin’s or inspired by him and written for the album, had been turned into lyrics and how well they were sung and framed by the music. In all these respects the performance was a resounding success.

If there is a genre chamber jazz fusion this was chamber jazz fusion. The mostly quiet, slowish tempo and stripped back instrumental accompaniment was surprisingly powerful. It not only gave plentiful space to main singer, poet Justin Hicks who was superb, but the contrast with the often visceral lyrics capturing Baldwin’s political and psycho-social experiences of racism, homophobia and social injustice made the impact of those lyrics even more powerful.

It was a shock when in a song of anger and resistance near the end of the set, ‘Pride11’, the band led by Meshell Ndegeocello’s pounding bass became loud, angry and fierce almost drowning out Hicks as he half sang half declaimed ’ Dark black night. White men rage. They dream of killing me. Sister protect yourself. Brother protect yourself. Learn to protect yourselves.’

This was a set that challenged the almost 100 percent white comfortable middle class audience, and I include myself. E.G. early on Hicks sang “What would you do if we became you.”. It seemed that the atmosphere among the audience changed from initial scepticism or even indifference to being riveted.

At the end the audience gave Meshell Ndegeocello and company such a sustained standing ovation for their very moving and superbly put together and executed performance that .Jazz A Juan rightly allowed an encore.

Wherever he is, I am sure that would have made James Baldwin smile.

GREGORY PORTER, 16/07/2025

GREGORY PORTER followed Meshell Ndegeocello and perhaps out of solidarity with what had gone before opened with a powerful rendition of his ‘1960 What?’. Looking on setlist.fm at set lists for other concerts on his current tour, he had not been opening with this or apparently even including it. Porter has said of the song “It’s about the absurdity of treating people wrong and the absurdity of the people who have been treated unjustly. Generally we burn our neighbourhoods and our own stores….It’s self mutilation .“
Self mutilation is one of James Baldwin’s themes..

Porter’s voice was in good shape. The best known Porter voice is a swooping lush baritone which he can produce with great power. I heard two other voices as well before I had to leave. ‘If Love is Overrated’ was delivered in a softer quasi-croner style which was echoed in an elegant solo from his group’s saxophonist. ‘Dad Gone Thing’ saw Porter getting into a funky groove along with his band.

He came over as a generous leader in that he gave space for members of his band to be in the spotlight. In what perhaps is his best known song, ’ Hey Laura’ Porter’s voice expressed the anxiety and the hope and fear of the protagonist, and made a song which he must have been sung hundreds of times sound fresh. He left space also for both his saxophonist and his organist to solo.

IBRAHIM MAALOUF, 17/07/2025

On day seven the headliner was French-Lebanese composer and trumpeter IBRAHIM MAALOUF and the Trumpets of Michel-Ange. Maalouf plays a quarter-tone trumpet invented by his father which enables him to mix middle-eastern and western scales and genres.

Currently he is on a mission to fulfil his father’s dream to make this trumpet more widely used, and to this end Maalouf has formed, an ensemble of five or six who all now play quarter tone trumpets, The Trumpets of Michel-Ange. He and they are in the midst of a long touring schedule which ends with a concert in Beirut.

They were in London on 7 April this year and my review of that concert can be found here:
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/ibrahim-maalouf-and-the-trumpets-of-michel-ange-o2-empire-shepherds-bush-london-07-04-2025.

Given how recent this was I am not going to review what was the same show again. However the Jazz A Juan concert did provide further evidence of Malodour’s popularity in France. When Maalouf was stood onto the stage he was greeted by a wave of adoration. All the 2800 seats seemed occupied and the standing areas were crowded. Also just outside the arena, where you can still hear the music, there was a sizeable crowd.

SOPHYE SOLIVEAU, 19/07/2025

I had never heard of harpist and vocalist SOPHYE SOLIVEAU who opened for what was the final day of jazz on the main stage She’s been described as “A new star of the French soul and R&B scene..(and as)...Floating between soul, jazz, R&B and gospel…”
(https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/fr/activite/concert/28392-sophye-soliveau) .

There wasn’t a great deal of jazz in her performance, what was striking in the extreme range of styles involved. The only other instruments in addition to her harp were a five string bass guitar and drums.

Soliveau leads several choirs, and also on stage were three other singers who were more a mini choral ensemble than backing singers. Soliveau’s voice was an instrument too. She can reach very high notes with apparent ease as she showed with some attention grabbing solo accapella pyrotechnics at the start. A bit of showboating perhaps but impressive.  It was followed by vocal harmonies and then a number in which gospel, soul, a touch of jazz and R&B all played a part.

There was a Debussy influenced harp instrumental that sailed close to becoming aimless noodling, though the audience loved it. This led into centre piece of the set, a wild ride you could not have anticipated from what came before. Speech-sing, yelps, speaking in tongues, screaming ,a child-like voice, a reverb vocal crashed into each other one after another. Then the guitar followed by the drums each launched ‘‘slash and burn’ extended solos. Don’t know what it was about. A response to 21st century capitalism? An ecstatic ritual? But it was splendidly discombobulating and exciting.

In total contrast, when Soliveau and her group came back on stage for an encore, they sang accapella harmonising exquisitely. After the wild ride this was just as discombobulating. Whatever will they do next?

HERBIE HANCOCK, 19/07/2025

If anyone has earned the right to play more or less the same set for the last two to three years surely it is HERBIE HANCOCK. It was more or less the same set that I’d heard him at Jazz A Juan in 2022 and the Nice Jazz Festival in 2023, starting with ‘Overture, ’ the compilation of extracts from some of his compositions, “ We are going to start a bit weird, is that okay? ” he asked the audience as I’ve heard him do before. Other than the opening wash of sounds which could have been from deepest outer space created by guitarist Lionel Loueke’s effects pedals ‘Overture’ actually is not that weird.

Guitarist and vocalist Loueke has been part of the band every time I have seen Hancock, as has trumpeter, film and opera and ballet-in-progress composer Terrance Blanchard and ‘Mr Reliable’ James Gaines on bass guitar. Jaylen Petinard who Hancock said “could be my grandson” was on drums having taken over the seat sometime between Jazz A Juan 2022 and the Nice Jazz Festival 2023.

While I was able to be present which wasn’t the complete set, Hancock played-piano mainly. He still had the dexterity to put together adventures piano runs that showed he had still ‘got it’. For me though Blanchard stole the show with his big rich trumpet sound that at times seemed like it was made by more than one trumpet. Every time he soloed the music went up a level.

It was not clear how much Hancock and his band were improvising on tunes they must have played hundreds possibly even a thousand times before. But they made their music sound newly minted.

Hancock had not had a vocoder moment or strapped on his keytar and rocked out playing Chameleon before I had to leave. However I am sure he did both and that he finished off with a star jump. The music seems to keep Herbie young and at the same time he and his band keep the music young. Three cheers for the remarkable Herbie Hancock.

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW

It was a good Jazz A Juan, not a vintage one. Of the performances I saw Meshell Ndegeocello’s tribute to James Baldwin was the highlight for it’s musicality and for being so thought provoking. Dianne Reeves would be my second pick despite her style of jazz not being my favourite.

The Jammin Summer Session now are embedded within the Jazz a Juan brand and were very successful and enjoyable see separate report to come).

This year Jazz A Juan did give me the opportunity to see for the first time rock legend Robert Plant with his ‘Saving Grace’ tour.. While again I could not stay for the whole set, I saw enough to confirm what Ian Mann said in reviewing their performance at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2022: “ The standard of the playing was exceptional throughout and the singing sublime “
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/sunday-at-cheltenham-jazz-festival-01-05-2022
This still applies in 2025.

Plant joined Jamie Cullum, Gregory Porter and Herbie Hancock as a big name who delivered at the festival. I am already looking forward to seeing which big names will be on the bill for Jazz A Juan 2026. With the current artistic directors of the festival now well established in their role, it will be interesting to see what acts will be on the bill for Jazz A Juan 2026.

COLIN MAY

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