The Côte d'Azur will live to the rhythm of jazz this summer

On the Côte d'Azur, cradle of festivals of the genre in France, the notes of jazz rise everywhere in the summer, not only in the historic festivals of Juan-les-Pins or Nice, but also on stages small and unexpected, as in Porquerolles or Peillon. "We are more than great defenders of small festivals because we are totally complementary", assures Philippe Baute, director of the Jazz à Juan festival. Under the Gould pine forest, the festival created in 1960 and which has seen Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and George Benson perform, is once again offering for its 61st edition, from July 6 to 19, a very high level, with in particular Dee Dee Bridgewater or Brad Mehldau.

"The big festivals must also be concerned about future stages and not just dip into the catalogs of stars", adds Mr. Baute who, beyond the On festival and its 25,000 spectators and 2.5 million euros in budget, offers a rich Off festival, the Jammin'Summer Session, and organizes meetings in the winter "between programmers and up-and-coming artists". In the hinterland of Nice, stands the perched village of Peillon. It is in this medieval eagle's nest that in 2021 the mayor Jean-Marc Rancurel, keen on accordion, and his deputy Thierry Marre, amateur guitarist, helped by Alban Leloup, artistic director, set up Peillon from scratch. Jazz Festival. To inaugurate the scene, Richard Galliano, the great jazz accordionist, who lives nearby. "With 300 spectators per evening at 29 euros per ticket, our economic model is limited, but it works, thanks to the ticket office, a third of subsidies from the department and the region and private partners", confides Mr. Marre.

“We don't have a huge budget. Our artistic director puts together a quality set with artists who often put in a lot of effort,” he adds. On the program this year, since Friday and until July 3, posters worthy of the biggest Parisian clubs with in particular China Moses, André Ceccarelli or Stéphane Belmondo. In a region which saw the birth of the first European jazz festival of international importance in Nice in 1948, "jazz is in vogue", assures Mr. Baute, with many other meetings such as Saint-Paul-de-Vence or Saint Jazz Cap Ferrat, even if the effects of the Covid crisis are still being felt, with a significant drop in sponsorship, according to several organizers.

But communities provide valuable assistance. The Region financially supports some 400 festivals and events (not just devoted to jazz) for "more than 4 million euros". The Alpes-Maritimes department only supports "one jazz festival, that of Juan-les-Pins and its parallel events, including the Off, up to 106,000 euros", indicates Auguste Verola, vice-president of the Departmental Council in charge of Culture. "But we also organize the Estivales, 450 free shows from June to September, where we offer jazz, as well as Jazz'art Lympia all summer long in Nice".

The Nice-Côte d'Azur Metropolis provides indirect aid to various festivals. It also organizes Jazz Off, from June 18 to August 13, in the municipalities of the metropolis, on the sidelines of the Nice Jazz Festival, scheduled for him, from July 18 to 21, with for headliners this year between others, Kurt Elling or Herbie Hancock. In 2022, 42,500 spectators flocked there. Poster less high-sounding but just as qualitative on the island of Porquerolles (Var), where the jazz festival created in 2001 by Frank Cassenti, after a difficult 2022 exercise, reduced the airfoil this year, going from five to four evenings.

To attend the concerts given at the foot of Fort Sainte Agathe, the 350 spectators per evening (against a ticket at 45 euros which has not changed since 2018) must take the boat from the peninsula of Giens. They then return by the last shuttle. Thanks to the sponsorship of American saxophonist Archie Shepp and Italian drummer Aldo Romano, Porquerolles is an unmissable event for many artists, "like a break from their tour", explains Victor Fabre, communications manager. Among the posters of this 22nd edition, from July 9 to 12, the Brazilian singer Monica Passos or the pianist Jacky Terrasson.