This year, the Maeght Foundation reconnects with musical creation by presenting on August 12, 2012, at 7:30 PM, an event concert by the Laurent Mignard Duke Quintet.
Performing arts, poetry and literature, architecture, and
great debates of ideas have always thrived within the spaces
of the Maeght Foundation. From 1965 to 1970, the
“Nights of the Maeght Foundation” hosted music, dance, theater, and poetry each summer.
It was in the Giacometti Courtyard or in the inflatable structures by Hans Walter Müller that Merce Cunningham, Albert Ayler, and Terry Riley, among others, performed for the first time in France… Cecil Taylor, La Monte Young, and Sun Ra were also among the guests of these memorable evenings. From 1984 to 1989, a new series of concerts was organized with world premieres, featuring performances by Mstislav Rostropovich, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Emmanuel Krivine, and Michel Portal. Duke Ellington, during a visit to the Maeght Foundation in 1966, improvised his famous Blues for Miró.
Today, the Maeght Foundation invites us to relive this great moment. An archival film will be shown during the concert of the Laurent Mignard Duke Orchestra Quintet, which brilliantly presents Duke’s repertoire worldwide—a “devilishly alive heritage like that of Miró,” says Olivier Kaeppelin, director of the Maeght Foundation.
The work of Duke Ellington (1899-1974) represents one of the greatest legacies of the 20th century. His journey is extraordinarily rich. Until his last breath, tireless, indefatigable, and driven by a true missionary spirit, he toured the world, playing in popular dance halls, high-end clubs, concert halls, festivals, for audiences of all races and conditions, students, heads of state, and jazz enthusiasts.
Duke Ellington is “alive and well” at the Maeght Foundation on August 12, 2012, on the day of the Saint-Paul de Vence celebration.
Founded in 2003, the Laurent Mignard Duke Orchestra is recognized by experts as the best Ellingtonian ensemble in activity, dedicated to serving and (re)creating Duke Ellington’s work for an ever-growing audience (Jazz à Vienne, Cork, Beirut, Radio France, L’Esprit Jazz, Le Palace, the Alhambra Paris…). Combining the spirit of blues with the most refined orchestral invention, the Laurent Mignard Duke Orchestra has always championed the idea of art for everyone, beyond styles and eras. Laurent Mignard addresses all audiences, restores the music in its context, engages, and seeks sharing. The dream is fulfilled…
In a smaller ensemble format, to reconnect with the performing arts at the Maeght Foundation, the Laurent Mignard Duke Quintet will present in the Giacometti Courtyard a journey into the heart of Duke Ellington’s repertoire, offering multiple entry points into an original language of extraordinary richness: essential standards, themes related to France
(Ellington French Touch), excerpts from the Suites…
Laurent Mignard DUKE Quintet
Line-up: Laurent Mignard, trumpet, Philippe Chagne, saxophones,
Philippe Milanta, piano, Pierre Maingourd, double bass, Julie Saury,
drums
