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Tanjazz 2011

Aida Kadiri — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:45:14 +0000

For the 4th following year, the BMCI Foundation showed its passion for jazz music by supporting Tangiers Tanjazz festival, which took place from September 21st to 25th, 2011.

The 12th edition of this festival demonstrated the musical diversity of jazz and was again a success: the BMCI stage build inside the Palais des Institutions Italiennes welcomed about 3.000 spectators with tickets, while more than 16.000 spectators gathered around the free BMCI scene downtown!

For more information, visit the Tanjazz official website

The BNP Paribas Foundation celebrates jazz…at Saint-Germain-des-Prés!

Arnaud Morand — Thu, 12 May 2011 16:08:54 +0000

The BNP Paribas Foundation – one of the few arts patrons to support jazz musicians – is pleased to renew its support for the 2011 JAZZ at SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES Festival.

The Festival and the Foundation have joined together in the same community of spirit in this event with something for everyone spotlighting talented young musicians alongside novel encounters between established artists in unexpected venues.

From 15 to 29 May 2011, the JAZZ at SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES Festival will propose a unique and exceptional programme of concerts, première performances, encounters between artists, new talents and exhibitions – all specially concocted to give festival goers a taste of jazz in all its diversity!

For 16 years now, the BNP Paribas Foundation has been assisting jazz musicians with the development of their careers and projects by providing support for recordings and for the promotion and broadcast of their concerts. In addition, the BNP Paribas Foundation endeavours to increase their notoriety and expand their audiences by developing exchanges with the Bank’s networks in France and abroad.

The Foundation made its debut in the world of jazz – the most spontaneous form of improvised music – with musicians Manuel Rocheman and Jacques Vidal. After these early patronage experiences, the Foundation developed its initiatives by supporting the Moutin Reunion Quartet, the Paris Jazz Big Band, and groups led by Murat Ozturk, Sylvain Beuf, Christophe Wallemme, Simon Goubert, Sophia Domancich, Jean-Pierre Como, Elizabeth Kontomanou, Tigran Hamasyan, Laurent Cugny, Stephane Guillaume, Emmanuel Bex, Régis Huby, Baptiste Trotignon and Stephane Huchard.

It has also been associated with the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition since 2006 and is lending its support to the second annual Jazz à l’Etage Festival in Rennes.

Finally, the BNP Paribas Foundation is committed to such international festivals as the North Sea Jazz Festival, the St. Louis Jazz Festival and Tanjazz alongside BNP Paribas’ branch locations in the Netherlands, Senegal and Morocco.

Find out more about the programme of the Jazz at Saint-Germain-des-Près Festival.

Tigran Hamasyan: A Passion for Jazz

Arnaud Morand — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:03:08 +0000

Born in Armenia in 1987, Tigran Hamasyan was drawn to music from the age of two … so much so that he found the piano and the tape recorder far more interesting than any toy! By the age of three, he was singing the best known songs of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Louis Armstrong and trying to accompany himself alone on the piano.

He attended his first music lessons at a classical music school around the age of seven and started trying his hand at jazz. He soon attained a surprising degree of technical skill and began composing. Noticed very early on by musicians and a few supporters, Tigran honed his skills through introductions to some of the greatest jazz players, all while developing a highly personal style.

Now aged 23, this young musician has continued to receive rewards: in 2006, he was awarded first prize in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, the world’s most prestigious jazz award, and then second prize in the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition awarded by the BNP Paribas Foundation, his sponsor since 2007.

Tigran is a highly talented performer and his elders are eager to proclaim his virtuosity, sense of groove and great musical maturity. However, he is also an inspired and prolific composer, shaped by numerous influences, as is demonstrated by the three albums he has already produced: World Passion in 2006, New Era in 2007 and Arrata Rebirth: Red Hail in 2009. “A Fable“, his new work brought out by Universal (on the Verve label) at the end of January and recorded in Paris, is a vibrant collection of highly lyrical solo piano pieces, ranging from delicately chiseled compositions to dynamic performances combining rhythmic and harmonic diversity.

A gifted musician with an unlimited imagination, at the crossroads between jazz, classical, traditional Armenian music and others, there is absolutely no doubt that a magnificent career in store for this young prodigy!

To celebrate the appearance of his new album “A Fable”, Tigran will be performing in concert at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris on Friday, 25 March 2011.

Jazz Creations: Get acquainted with 3 new artists

Camille Boullier — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 15:44:17 +0000

Find out more about three Jazz artists who, with the support of the BNP Paribas Foundation, have each released a new album…

Laurent Cugny: La Tectonique des Nuages (Signature/Radio France)

A rare event, the creation of La Tectonique des Nuages (“Cloud Tectonics”) has its roots in a long-held ambition of Jean-Paul Boutellier, of Jazz à Vienne, and the musician Laurent Cugny. Indeed, it was to take several years to make this dream come to fruition – to find the subject matter, write the score, bring together the musicians and singers, and put the production together. First performed in a live version at Jazz à Vienne in 2006, the piece by the American playwright José Rivera, Cloud Tectonics, set to music by Laurent Cugny, has since played to full houses at the Théâtre de la Ville, the Théâtre du Rond-Point, and the Comédie de Saint Etienne, with a lineup including three singers, led by David Lynx and Laika Fatien, and about 10 musicians. As well as supporting its creation, the BNP Paribas Foundation has been associated with the recording of this jazz opera.

For more, visit www.myspace.com/laurentcugny

Sophia Domancich: Snakes and Ladders (Cristal Records)

Honoured with the French award “Elu Citizen Jazz”, as well as four stars by Jazz magazine, Sophia Domancich’s latest album displays this pianist’s rich repertoire, which here shows us a dark, poisonous world where voices alternately fascinate and disturb the listener. These voices are not unknown. Sophia Domancich, who has already won the prestigious Django Reinhardt prize, brings together in this work the great figures of progressive rock: the legendary Robert Wyatt with Wilderness, while the grating performance of John Greaves shakes Tea Time or Goodnight. Among these texts we find the poetry of Jacqueline Cahen or the writing of John Greaves, but many other inputs contribute to the richness of this ensemble, from the singer Himiko Paganotti to the voices of Napoleon Maddox and Ramon Lopez – not forgetting the musicians in the ensemble (including Simon Goubert on drums) and the arrangers.

For more, visit www.lesforcesenpresence.com/sophiadomancich/

Régis Huby/Maria Laura Baccarini/Yann Appery: All Around (Abalone Productions)

“All Around consists of nine tableaux, all linked, to create a sort of oratorio, a musical fairytale for the world …” These tableaux painted by Régis Huby take shape based on a libretto by Yann Apperry, a Franco-American writer who won the Medicis prize and who here weaves a poetic fable evoking humanity and its relationship with the earth. When Régis Huby composed the musical shell for this fable, he played with colours, cultures, and multiple rhythms: classical, jazz, pop, and Asian, African, and Celtic traditional. Over this musical canvas floats the voice of Maria Laura Baccarini, an Italian singer whose dramatic force and vocal technique do full justice to the fire and meaning of this work.

For more, visit www.myspace.com/regishuby

The Second Annual “Jazz Days” in Sofia, Bulgaria

Krasimira Antimova — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:44:07 +0000

For a second year in a row, a series of jazz concerts will be presented in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, during the third week of November 2010.

The outstanding young jazz musician Tigran Hamasyan will be performing a solo concert on November 16th at the French residence in Sofia. On November 17th, the famous Tigran Trio (Tigran Hamasyan – piano, Sylvain Romano – bass, Mathieu Chazarenc – drums) will play in the Czech Center in Sofia. The musicians will also be holding a jam session with the Bulgarian performers Veselin Veselinov – Eko (bas), Dimitar Semov (drums), Misho Josifov (trumpet) and Vili Stojanov (trombone). Tigran Hamasyan will be recording record a jazz performance in the Bulgarian national radio, and a final concert will take place on Saturday, November 20th, at the Café Wien presenting the Austrian musicians Clemens Salesny (sax) and Clemens Wenger (piano).

Supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation in cooperation with BNP Paribas S.A. Sofia Branch, the BNP Paribas Jazz Days in Sofia is a part of the Foundation’s decade-long tradition of jazz patronage. This includes grants for recordings, as well as support for promoting concerts and tours in order to help these jazz virtuosos reach a broader audience and win new listeners all over the world.

Two musicians receive awards from the Jazz Academy

Isabelle Palsky — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:13:26 +0000

On 12 January, the Jazz Academy awarded three prizes to Stéphane Guillaume and Laurent Cugny, two jazzmen supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation.

The composer and saxophonist Stéphane Guillaume, who the BNP Paribas Foundation has been supporting over the last two years, won two prizes. He won the Django Reinhardt Prize – a prestigious award recognising the French musician of the year. He also won the French Recording Prize for “Windmills Chronicles”, the album that appeared last autumn, recorded with 11 musicians.

Concerning Laurent Cugny, for whom the BNP Paribas Foundation has been supporting the proposal for a jazz opera “The tectonics of clouds”, he received the Jazz Book Prize for “Analysing jazz” – published by Outre-Mesure, 600 pages.

For more information…

BMCI Foundation presents the 10th edition of the TANJAZZ

Isabelle Palsky — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:37:42 +0000

Building on the continuous support that BNP Paribas Foundation gives to jazz musicians, the BMCI Foundation sponsors the festival Tanjazz, which takes place from June 10th – 14th 2009 in the city of Tanger, Morocco.

BIMCI, BNP Paribas subsidiary in Morocco, has been supporting the festival for almost a decade. The scene, also named BMCI, was set up especially for the occasion, in the Moulay Hafid Palace. This year, the program features 4 exceptional concerts: Nnenna Freelon, Sweet System, Janice de Rosa and Shakura S’Aida.
BMCI has build its corporate patronage philosophy around the idea of supporting music from all over the world. It aims at awakening the interest in music among the youngest, in discovering new talents, but also in supporting artists, and organising prestigious events. This is how, via its Foundation, BMCI has been committed to promoting music in its best.

Jazz Festival in Saint-Louis, Senegal

Dimitrina Todorova — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:01:52 +0000

The 17th edition of the Jazz Festival of Saint Louis will take place from 28th to the 31st of May 2009 under the patronage of the Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie du Senegal (BICIS) a BNP Paribas subsidiary in Senegal .

For almost a decade now, BICIS has been a sponsor of the festival,taking place in the second largest city in Senegal . This year, thanks to the cooperation with the BNP Paribas Foundation, two internationally acclaimed performers are to make an appearance : Eizabeth Kontomanou and the drums quartet of Simon Gourbet.

The jazzwoman Elizabeth Kontomanou, accompanied by her pianist, and Simon Gourbet along with the with three other musicians from his quartet, will play to the delight of the public of the festival.

Thanks to the close collaboration with BNP Paribas foundation, which supports both of the starring musicians, BICIS was able to invite these world class artists to play along with Senegalese local musicians and experience cultlral and artistic exchange in the framework of the Stait-Louise jazz festival.

The Quai des Arts in Saint Louis, will also host performances by HDV Trio, Amina Myers, Talking Horns, Géraldine Laurent, Richard Galliano, Ale Moller Band, as well as some other Senegalese musiciand such as Ablaye Cissoko, Mama Sadio, Khabane, Jamal, Guame.