Concert Festival Jazz Des Cinq Continents Marseille Cchillio

The Sud region and jazz

A lasting love story

At the end of the 1940s, American jazzmen discovered the Côte d’Azur and never went home. Every summer, from Juan-les-Pins to and from Ramatuelle to Marseille, the Sud region celebrates jazz in its finest settings.

The genesis of Jazz à Juan, Bechet’s héritage

After the war, celebrating life

Just after WW2, American culture had the wind in its sails in France, and the feeling was light. from 1949, the greatest American jazz stars such as Sidney Bechet and Duke Ellington, were on stage in Paris. And, in the summer, in a town on the Côte d’Azur: Juan-les-Pins. For these artists, it became The Place to Be in France. When they play there, the atmosphere is always festive. And then it happened: one of them, and one of the best – Sidney Bechet, fell in love with Antibes and Juan-les-Pins. He got married there in 1951 surrounded by the artistic “Who’s Who” of the time, including Mistinguett, Brigitte Bardot and Sacha Distel… One of his songs, “Dans les rues d’Antibes”, is a magnificent homage to the town. Following his death in 1960, the Antibes Juan-les-Pins jazz festival, Jazz à Juan, was created in his memory. The Côte d’Azur and the South of France became jazzlands!

Ella Fitzgerald - The Cricket Song - Live 1964

The Pinède Gould, a great favourite with jazz stars

The 1960s and 1970s in Juan-les-Pins

Following its creation, Jazz à Juan was to host the greatest names in jazz: Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Les McCann, Count Basie, Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Ray Charles. Ray Charles appeared there many times over 40 years! Every summer, the event has a date with the public in July, over around ten days, in the Pinède Gould, facing the sea. The venue – and the fans – will always remember mythical moments. Like the evening of 29th July 1964, when Ella Fitzgerald took the stage. The cicadas were in full voice and singing extremely loud. She decided to give them what for by improvising a “cricket song” which then became famous. For several decades, for these Afro-American artists, who suffered from racial segregation in the United States, to perform in France was a real breath of fresh air. Today, Jazz à Juan is still an internationally famous jazz festival and has even opened to other musical styles such as rock, soul, funk and pop.

The Nice Jazz Festival

In 1971, a return to jazz for Nice

On the Côte d’Azur and in the Sud region, Nice also has its jazz festivals. There too, the story is not a new one. A year before the first edition of Jazz à Juan, in 1948, Nice had organised the first jazz festival in the world! Louis Armstrong and Django Reinhardt (no less!) had the audience in Nice swinging. Over 20 years after this event, in 1971, the capital of the Riviera reconnected with this great story and jazz. The Nice Jazz Festival in the Théâtre de Verdure rapidly became a must in the open air in August. Like Jazz à Juan, the Nice Jazz Festival has extended its programme over the years and hosted the great names of French chanson and international songs: Chuck Berry, Carlos Santana, Black Eyed Peas, Orelsan, Angèle, Ben Harper, Deep Purple…

Jazz in Ramatuelle

Born of the “Swing factor”

In Ramatuelle, this now emblematic festival was born of the passion for jazz of the “Swing factor“. In 1985, a postman, Denis Antoine, organised a jazz evening in the village olive grove. The festival was a huge success: the Festival de Jazz de Ramatuelle saw the light the following year, supported by the tenor sax Guy Lafitte. Since its creation, the event, which takes place over 4 days in the summer, has hosted the greatest, including Michel Petrucciani, Lionel Hampton, Abbey Lincoln… It takes place in a joyful atmosphere at the

Jazz des Cinq Continents

Marseille has its festival too!

Since 2000, Marseille and Provence have joined the sought-after clubs of the jazz towns of the Sud region: the Festival Jazz des Cinq continents, which has grown over the years, is held over around ten days in the summer, at the beginning of July. The programme focuses on the diversity of cultures and peoples, sharing and the local jazz scene and has seen Manu Katché and Kool and the Gang. The Festival Jazz des Cinq continents is also the opportunity to see another aspect of the mythical places in the Mediterranean city: with each concert, La Vieille charité, La Friche or the gardens of Palais Longchamp vibrate to the rhythm of the jazz scores. True to its history, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur also invites you to events which are just as impressive, such as the Peillon Jazz Festival, the Festival Jazz on Porquerolles, and Saint Jazz Cap Ferrat.

Festival Jazz Des Cinq Continents Marseille Cchillio

Discover

Concert NICE JAZZ FESTIVAL METROPOLE

Concert Nice Jazz Festival Métropole with Christian Pachiaudi guest Cyril Galami Free entrance

Festival Jazz à Ramatuelle - Le OFF

The first blue notes of the evening in a "garden party" version In the Theater Gardens, while enjoying the "Off" musicians, you can enjoy a light meal from 6:30 p.m....

The Theater

Built in 1985 for the Festival of theater and varieties, in a frame peaceful and opened towards the plain and the coast, he can welcome 1200 spectators.

Peillon Jazz Festival