He was regarded as one of the best in the region. Double bassist Marc Peillon passed away at 61 this weekend. A figure of the “jazz scene” on the Côte d’Azur, he created several festivals, notably in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Entrevaux, in the hinterland of Nice.
We are pleased to publish the heartfelt tribute paid to him by Philippe Dejardin.
At the risk of repeating myself, I was neither an old friend of Marc Peillon nor a stage partner for as long as many people who will read these lines, but I owe him my professional and psychological rebirth in 2016. After three years of unemployment following an economic layoff at harmonia mundi, doubts about my abilities, and anxiety about not finding a job at an already advanced age, he knew how to respond to my call for help.
Our first real encounter dates back to August 2015, at the Saint Jazz Cap Ferrat Festival he created in 2011, on the occasion of the concert of Thomas Enhco & Vassilena Serafimova. We talked about music but not only that; he knew more about me than vice versa. This is also part of the talent of scouts, of which he was a member. We immediately hit it off, sharing the same ideas about the atmosphere and conception of a festival, communication around it, and relationships with artists and the public… The conviviality with the public and the artists.
In May 2016, we met again at the Antibes Jazz Festival springboard – Jazz à Juan where – incredibly, after his amazing musical and artistic journey – he found himself there to accompany pianist Ryoko with Jeröme Achat. That was Marc, ready to question himself for a new project, eager to discover other musical horizons.
In the hall of the Albert Camus Media Library, Antibes, we talked again but this time more professionally because he felt it was time to seal the collaboration mentioned a year earlier. In August 2016, I became his “right-hand man” within the Pepita Musiques et Cultures association and immediately jumped into the whirlwind of Saint Jazz Cap Ferrat.
He restored my confidence by giving me the responsibility to propel his association into the field of institutional and media recognition. Thanks to him, I discovered the behind-the-scenes of a festival, its complexities, its difficulties, but also its unique joys, like the privilege of being backstage last year, drinking champagne with Rhoda Scott and her lady Quartet Sophie Alour, Lisa Cat-Berro & Julie Saury (whom he reunited with on that stage after several years and whom he affectionately embraced during sound checks).
When – following the success of the Saint Jazz Cap Ferrat, Jean-François Dieterich, the mayor of Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat, and he decided to create the winter extension with the Saint Jazz Club, he asked me to follow him. There was no hesitation because I knew we were going to experience great moments again.
Even though my status had changed with Pepita, we maintained and strengthened the complicity that extended far beyond the musical aspect, and that is why writing this text is incredibly difficult. And even more so to choose a photo.
I will post more when I’ve fully gathered my thoughts to try to sum up everything we shared over these years. What can be said about that crazy challenge that was the new Jazz Entrevous festival in Entrevaux last July? There is a special page for that one.
We were supposed to continue with the “A Hautes Voix” Singing Contest he organized with Christina Collier & Carolyne Shallow, managing to convince André Manoukian to be its sponsor.
To pay tribute to him, I chose this sublime black and white photo, taken by Marc Lapolla at the Saint Jazz Club on March 20, 2019, it sums him up perfectly! THANK YOU Marc Peillon, and now you can organize some jams up there…
Philippe Déjardin
