Sixun is the resounding and swing-worthy nom de guerre of the flagship jazz fusion group “made in France,” which started by chance and necessity in 1984 through a jam session at Café Conc’, a club in the Châtelet district of Paris.
Sixun celebrates the triumph of spicy, mixed, multicolored music based on melodic tunes set against a backdrop of polyrhythmic joy and ever-repeating binary energy.
Sixun has experienced 20 years of adventures, successes, and tours, with varying lengths of pauses allowing each tribe member to recharge and gain new experiences.
To date, Sixun has released eight albums: Nuit blanche (1985) with its now-famous cover by Daniel Jan (a photo of two babies, one black and one white, immediately conveying the mixed image of the group). This debut album was followed by Pygmées (1986), Explore (1988), Live (1989), L’eau de là (1990), Nomads’ Land (1993), Lunatic Taxi (1995), and Nouvelle Vague (1998).
Sixun is the union of six close-knit musicians who are as one, despite hailing from vastly different geographical backgrounds. At the drums is the magnificent Ivorian Paco Sery; on bass, the versatile Martiniquan Michel Alibo, who has played with artists like Andy Narell, Angélique Kidjo, Karim Ziad, and Mario Canonge. On saxophones is Alain Debiossat from Charente, who also enjoys playing with the National Orchestra of Barbès. On guitar is Louis Winsberg from Marseille, who, through his “Jaleo” project (two CDs), celebrates the Mediterranean wedding of jazz and flamenco. Finally, on keyboards, Jean-Pierre Como, the “Parisian-Italian,” sings the Latin origins in his two beautiful albums, Scénario and Storia…
And then, there is the sixth musician of Sixun: the percussionist. It is the only position in the group that has seen much change. It started with Abdou M’Boup, followed by Idrissa Diop, Bobby Thomas Jr., Jaco Largent, Arnaud Frank, Manolo Bradena… Who will be next?
After some necessary years of dormancy, the Sixun saga is beginning again with renewed vigor today. This fall, a DVD release takes us back to some of the group’s memorable hot moments.
