Already 40 years in Seine-Saint-Denis, we discover little nuggets of jazz and world music. In 2023, the Banlieues Bleues festival wants to offer an “adventurous and kaleidoscopic” poster because “music has never been so incredibly open, lively, creative, unpredictable”. Overview of a pioneering, ambitious and exciting program.
Since 1983, the Banlieues Bleues festival has worked to bring the biggest names in jazz to the Seine-Saint-Denis department and introduce the inhabitants of Seine-Saint-Denis to the big names in the field as well as the emerging talents, and all at a rather affordable price. This year, more than ever, the festival projects itself and offers an even more eclectic program to allow “discovering musicians who are profoundly transforming music”.
The event gets off to a strong start with an opening weekend which takes place in two stages and in two places: Friday March 24 within the walls of the University of Paris 8, then Saturday March 25 in the Grandes Serres de Pantin. On the program the Colombian guitarist Ocampo ceiling and his band Mucho Indio, the jazzman, composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer from Chicago Ben Lamar Gaythe British father-daughter duo Yeah You and his globetrotter noise improvisation, the trio Nut which consists of an electric harp, a transverse flute and a battery, but also the creation Welsh Opera Pollution Elvin Brandhi and the Egyptian Nadah El Shazlythe self-taught electric bassist Farida Amadouor the project Love and Revenge which combines electronic concert and real-time video editing by capturing songs and films from the golden age of Arab audiovisual production.
At Dynamo, in the heart of the Quatre-Chemins district, in Pantin, we will find, among other things, collaborative performance AngRRR imagined by performer and musician Violaine Lochu with Pantinois, the duo Rokia Koné, one of the essential singers of the current Malian scene and the guitarist, keyboardist and producer from Barcelona Raül Refree, LéNoDuo composed of Leonardo Montana aupiano and Arnaud Dolmen on drums, Floy Krouchisound artist, bassist and electroacoustic composer and Norwegian live-sampling wizard Jan Bang.
For the rest, it will be, like every year, a beautiful stroll through the rooms of 93. At the TPM in Montreuil, we will discover the Spanish flamenco singer Rocio Marqueznext to Bronchus, a former punk drummer now shining on the Spanish electro scene. At the Paul Eluard theater in Stains, meet the drummer and composer Arnaud Dolmenwinner of the Révélation prize at the Victoires du Jazz in 2022. At the Maison du Peuple, in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, the American guitarist and composer Marc Ribot will dive back into the history of soul-jazz by revisiting the organ-guitar-drums trio, which he practiced in his early days. At the Odéon, in Tremblay-en-France, we will travel to the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with Fulu Miziki Kolektivthe eco-afro-futurist pack from Kinshasa who create their instruments from salvaged objects, always looking for new sounds and Lova Lova, dressed in the costume of an Ngunza priest, who sings of his life in bustling Kinshasa to the sound of his guitar. At the PMO in Epinay-sur-Seine, we are leaving for Colombia, with the sonora mazuren which rewrites the future history of country music by mixing psychedelic tropical salsa with cumbia and Afro-funk echoes.
The 40th edition of the Banlieues Bleues festival will be held from March 24 to April 21 in 12 towns in the Seine-Saint-Denis department.
Photo credit: Maxim François
Confirmed artists
Friday March 24
Teto Ocampo, Ben Lamar Gay Ensemble, Yeah You, Nout, Fantazio, Gustav Thomas, Frisbee Shop, Lemon Jam,
Saturday March 25
Pollution Opera : Elvin Brandhi & Nadah, El Shazly, Klein, Farida Amadou, Love & Revenge, Bridget Ferril & Aslaug Magnusdottir
Tuesday, March 28
AngRRR, Nettle
Wednesday, March 29
Ostrakinda & the Ephemeral Tribe
Thursday March 30
Rocio Marquez & Bronchio
Friday March 31
Ray Motto
Saturday April 1
Sophye Soliveau, Hamid Drake,
Sunday April 2
La Sonora Mazuren
Tuesday April 4
Mademoiselle
Wednesday April 5
Rokia Koné, Raul Reffree
Thursday April 6
Lénoduo, Sélébéyoné
Friday April 7
B. Cool-Aid : Pink Siifu & Ahwlee
Saturday April 8
Fulu Miziki Kolektiv, Lova Lova
Sunday April 9
Bat’man de Choirs, Arnaud Dolmen
Tuesday April 11
Floy Krouchi, Dwarfs of East Agouza
Wednesday April 12
I K I R U, Jan Bang
Thursday April 13
Valentina Magaletti
Friday April 14
DJ Narciso, DJ Nigga Fox, DJ Marfox
Saturday April 15
HHY & The Kampala Unit
Tuesday April 18
Les Mamies Guitare, Marc Ribot
Thursday April 20
Baba Commandant & the Mandingo Band
Friday April 21
The Silhouettes Project, Emicida
