Photos de voyage
50th International Jazz Festival à Juan
France, Juan les Pins
In France, more precisely, on Côte d’Azur, from July 14th to 25th 2010, the prestigious international jazz festival « Jazz à Juan, » the oldest in Europe, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. Antibes Juan-les-Pins, the capital of jazz, has chosen to pay tribute to the great musicians who have performed ever since 1960 in the legendary setting of the Gould pine grove. On the strength of the festival’s international recognition, the town is also preparing the future generation of young artists with the « Jazz à Juan Révélations »—a series of concerts promoting young jazz musicians on stage.
As early as the 1920s, Antibes Juan-les-Pins was the meeting place for the intellectual and modernist elite, in the manner of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway. They brought with them jazz and a new art of living. The city of joie de vivre, dear to the heart of Picasso, was also the adopted homeland of the great saxophone player Sidney Bechet. Created in 1960 as a tribute to Bechet, « Jazz à Juan » sparked many other festivals which spread across the whole of Europe.
The concept was revolutionary. For the first time, the general public could discover, up close, the jazz greats in a beautiful setting—under the centenarian pine trees of the Pinède Gould, facing the Mediterranean Sea. It was certainly a risky gamble, but came off brilliantly, leading to a permanent festival celebrating jazz in all its forms: New Orleans, Gospel, Blues, Swing, Be-Bop, Latin Jazz, Cool Jazz, Hard-Bop, Free Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Modern Jazz and Electro-Jazz.
The Jazz à Juan Festival has become one of the most effective conveyors of communication for Antibes Juan-les-Pins in Europe and throughout the world. The favorite festival of Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Miles Davis—and more recently, Keith Jarrett, Sonny Rollins and Jamie Cullum—is now preparing to welcome once again, upon the occasion of a half-century of existence, an exceptional variety of artists including bassist Marcus Miller, pianist Keith Jarrett, bossa-nova great Carlinhos Brown, sax-player David Sanborn, and drummer Manu Katché.
In order to make this a very special 50th birthday celebration and to help prepare future jazz talents, the Antibes Juan-les-Pins Tourist Office is presenting:
• The « Jazz à Juan » spring & summer series 2010
Fifty years of « Jazz à Juan » jazz heritage will be exhibited through movie projection, conferences and art exhibitions throughout the spring and early summer period in Antibes Juan-les-Pins.