Under a gentle heat and an azure blue sky, the 2nd edition of the Nice Jazz Festival in its palm tree version opened its doors. The first evening was led by Dee Dee Bridgewater, the patroness of this edition, China Moses, Erykah Badu, Ibrahim Maalouf, New Meeting Quartet and Eddy Louis Richard Galliano Quartet.
The spectators of the Nice Jazz Festival still form a long line, winding around the NJF’s enclosing fences when China Moses, singer and TV presenter, starts to make the Masséna stage’s speakers vibrate. Accompanied as always by her pianist and arranger Raphaël Lemonnier, the columnist from Canal+’s Grand Journal and former MTV host opened the ball. “When I was little, after my father’s death, my mother, instead of taking me to see a psychologist, introduced me to a musician friend. I think it was the most beautiful thing in my life.” And one cannot help but agree with the diva as she strolls with her glass of rosé, singing a blues that melts hearts.
Her mother, Dee Dee Bridgewater, with an impressive discography since 1974, continues tours without faltering. On this Sunday, July 8, 2012, it was with a beaming smile in front of assembled photographers and a welcome energy that this edition’s patroness opened the festivities. Her fellow American, Erykah Badu, was reestablishing her presence at the Nice Jazz Festival. The Texan had already walked the grounds of Nice in 2009, during the penultimate Nice Jazz Festival in the Cimiez arenas. She closed the Masséna stage with tunes of Jazz and R&B for this first jazz evening.
At the end of the “complex” of the Nice Jazz Festival, the Théâtre de Verdure was also part of the event with local talents: the New Meeting Quartet. These Niçois brought the last sunny notes above the city by blending Brazilian rhythms with jazz music. However, night begins to reclaim its space shortly after when Ibrahim Maalouf takes the stage in a packed Théâtre de Verdure captivated by the artist’s talent. This 32-year-old Lebanese performs a personal jazz, a subtle mix of gentle musical ballads, Brazilian batucadas, and unrestrained rock rhythms.
Eddy Louis, crowned the world’s best organist, and the Richard Galliano Quartet concluded this first jazz night with a “jazz musette ball.” Here too, like father like son, and the many spectators seated in the Théâtre de Verdure were not mistaken, granting him a triumphant salute.
The curtain can now fall on this first night of the Nice Jazz Festival 2012, predicting a beautiful week with the likes of Texas, Thomas Dutronc, and other acts like Gilberto Gil who, without a doubt, will make the heart of the city of Nice beat…
