NEVILLE BROTHERS
Monday, July 24 – 11:00 PM – Garden
Art, Charles, Aaron, and Cyril… Built around these four individuals, the Neville brothers have lived for thirty years to the rhythm of their ability to express themselves in unity and diversity. A paradox comparable to that which allows their city, New Orleans, to showcase its difference by relying on the eclecticism of its musical roots. Just like the first city of Louisiana, declared moribund after the disaster caused by the passage of Hurricane Katrina last summer, the Nevilles have always managed to rise from their ashes thanks to their contagious energy, both in the studio and on stage. Their presence at Cimiez for the first time in the history of the Nice Jazz Festival is an event not to be missed under any circumstances!
POPA CHUBBY
Monday, July 24 – 8:00 PM – Arenas
Playing up his ogre-like appearance and disturbing tattoos, Ted “Popa Chubby” Horowitz proves that one can be white and speak the everyday language of black blues, the African-American community not having the monopoly on the hardships in American cities. After the masterful “How’d a White Boy Get the Blues,” this son of a Jewish merchant from the Bronx returns with “The Good, the Bad and the Chubby,” an album of maturity and reflection. Virulent vocabulary for the Bad, generous thoughts for the Good: under his tough exterior, Chubby hides a heart as big as he is.
MARCUS MILLER
Monday, July 24 – 9:30 PM – Garden
This bass virtuoso possesses the gift of musical ubiquity. Son of an organist and choir director, related to the legendary Wynton Kelly, equally comfortable on clarinet and piano as on electric bass, Marcus began in New York studios – he can be heard on recordings of Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Elton John, or Roberta Flack, among many others – before helping to launch the career of Luther Vandross, a champion of the ballad-soul cause. Meanwhile, Marcus joined his idol, Miles Davis, on stage and in the studio (remember the album “Tutu”), before embarking on a solo career focused on a happy blend of jazz and funk. As he willingly admits, “I am always looking to invent to keep progressing,” a policy that has served him remarkably well so far.
ETIENNE MBAPPE
Monday, July 24 – 11:15 PM – Arenas
“The bassist with silk gloves” “MISIYA” his first self-titled album reveals the unique universe of a singer with a smooth and deep voice who navigates the boundaries of African music and pop. An outstanding composer, he develops an ethnic pop with sophisticated and inventive arrangements, a clever blend of his African roots and his various musical influences. He never resists a baryton saxophone with free jazz accents, a saturated rock guitar, or an Arab-Andalusian violin for a vibrant homage to Lounès MATOUB.
DAVID WALTERS
Monday, July 24 – 10:00 PM – Matisse
Grandson of West Indians from Saint Kitts and Martinique, this young singer-songwriter-producer gave up a professional athlete career to embrace that of a musician. Mixing electronic rhythms and acoustic sounds in a setting strongly marked by his Afro-Caribbean roots, Walters had the opportunity to learn the art of performing while opening for artists such as Lenny Kravitz, David Bowie, and Jamiroquai. His concert in Nice is in line with the recently published bestselling album titled “Awa.”
INCOGNITO
Monday, July 24 – 8:00 PM – Garden
This London-based acid jazz ensemble draws its roots from the fusion dear to the 1970s. Originally, Mauritian guitarist Bluey Maunick made his debut leading Light of the World, a disco-funk group he renamed Incognito when the disco wave eventually subsided. The group garnered some well-deserved successes throughout the 1980s before achieving recognition in the following decade by recruiting African-American singer Maysa. Since the global success of the album “Positivity,” Incognito remains one of the champions of the acid jazz school worldwide.
STEPHANE HUCHARD
Monday, July 24 – 9:45 PM – Arenas
This self-taught drummer started with an accordionist father and refined his technique in various rock bands before turning to jazz. Old school, Latin, or world, whether in a trio or a big band, Huchard has been nourishing himself for more than a decade with jazz open to diversity, which has allowed him to work on stage and in the studio with a veritable who’s who of European jazz, from François Jeanneau to Laurent de Wilde, Jacky Terrasson, Stefani di Battista, Sylvain Luc, or Romane. Signer of two Blue Note albums and a collection of “underground compositions” recently published under the colors of Nocturne (“Bouchabouches”), Huchard begins this summer a deserved journey through major festivals thanks to the Adami’s Talents Jazz initiative of which he is this season’s laureate.
