FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
3 July 2009
Jazz artists from around the world have been entertaining the Gambian audience for 18 months, thanks to the French cultural Network, the Alliance Franco-Gambienne, and with the support of Total Gambia LTD. The artists were Sylvain Sourdeix Trio, Fabien Mary Quartet, Chicago Blues, Juan Martin, Juan & Rhoses, Abdu Salim and the Hip Jazz Trio, Sandy Patton Quartet etc.
They all gave exceptional concerts at the Alliance Franco-Gambienne open air theatre facility on Kairaba Avenue. Without exception, they all appreciated and praised the warm welcome given to them at Alliance Franco-Gambienne and in the Gambians.
The artists expressed their appreciation of the Gambian audience with whom they said "we got across to them, they are music lovers. They participated and made us give of our best."
They all shared one wish and that is to come back to the Gambia and for some with new bands.
During the concerts at Alliance Franco-Gambienne, the exceptional infrastructure and the quality of the sound guarantee the artists a concert whose sound is faithfully delivered.
"No music bears a bad sound system, particularly jazz music", said Jean-Luc Lopez of Trio Sourdeix.
Tonton Salut of Hip Jazz Trio said, "The professionalism of Alliance Franco-Gambienne and its technical know-how, for us, who play in the biggest European stages, make us want to come back."
These excellent musical conditions, exceptional in West Africa but present in the entire French Cultural Network in the Senegambia Region, have begun to be known beyond the Mediterranean.
Actually, all the groups have now gone back to their respective countries in France, Switzerland, United States and are talking about the successful experience they had at the Alliance Franco-Gambienne and in the Gambia.
Many artists such as the Blues Singer Nina Van Horn or Norbert Grisot, the pianist of Sandy Patton, showed their interest to come back to the Gambia to what they described as the artist home at Alliance Franco-Gambienne and to record the songs of their next albums.
The quality group of the artists that delighted the Gambian public, together with the professional PA system that produced the excellent cultural and musical alchemy, is the result of a clever partnership between Total Gambia Ltd and Alliance Franco-Gambienne.
A big thank you to the two partners that work together to ensure that jazz music exists in the Gambia and is accessible to everybody with a listening quality worthy of that music and its audience.
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