JUNE PREMIERES: MUSIC OF THE WORLD

James 'Blood' Ulmer, the 'Blues Preacher', holds the secret of producing the blues' essence that he learned from his father. However, Ulmer is perhaps more famous for his partnership with Ornette Coleman, who decided to teach the guitarist to play free improvisation in the seventies. Consequently, James 'Blood' Ulmer became an initiator of 'free funk', which rebelled against the new order of neo-bop in the eighties. Now most of his original peers have gone, Ulmer rekindles their fiery memory with a new band.

Since 1999, the French festival Blues sur Seine has been committed to promoting blues and blues culture in the regions of Rosny-sur-Seine and Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. Vaudou Game was one of the bands at edition 2015. The band plays vintage Afrofunk, to which Togolese singer Peter Solo adds his own exploration of Vodun harmonies. An effective and exciting combination of tradition and modernity is the result.

Although Axel Krygier is strongly associated with Argentinian rock from the second half of the '80s, he is one of the most unique and exceptional musicians of his country. He was even praised for his singularity by the leader of Sumo, a great icon of local underground, a compliment which became a stigma. Together with Mathieu Warsky (bass, keys), Jean Thevenin (drums, sampler), and Juan Ravioli (guitar, bass, backing vocals), Axel Krygier (piano, voice) brings the best of his musical influences.

Vocalist and composer Winston McAnuff was born in the hills of Jamaica in 1957. Reggae was ingrained in his life from an early age. On stage at the French world music festival Les Escales Saint-Nazaire, Winston “Electric Dread” McAnuff steps beyond his role as Rastafarian preacher, performing with a fiery spirit that is as distinctive as it is jovial. He runs across the stage, lectures the crowd, and rolls around joyfully on the floor. But where does his boundless energy come from after so many years of silence? How does McAnuff share his memories and beliefs with the “old white Europe”, where he makes his comeback thanks to the Makasound label? In contrast to his stage charisma, we share moments with him in an intimate setting, seated and relaxed. Against a neutral backdrop of a stage under construction, guitar in hand, he recounts stories about Rasta culture. His words and prayers evoke poetry from far-off Jamaica, the land of his first musical inspiration and his first life-changing encounters. Even though this great island is far away, the ghosts of elders are ever-present.