Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nice and President of Nice Côte d’Azur, unveiled the new program for the Nice Jazz Festival 2012, in the presence of Harry Lapp, who is serving for the second time as artistic director.
The City of Nice took on the challenge in 2011 of taking over the festival’s management and moving it to the city center to make it more accessible to everyone, with attractive pricing. The challenge was more than met, as over 30,000 spectators came to applaud an eclectic and high-quality lineup on the Masséna and Théâtre de Verdure stages.
This year’s edition will take place from July 8 to 12, and the patron will be the famous Franco-American singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, whose fame and talent will undoubtedly charm the audience once again, who will surely attend in great numbers. And as a double surprise, she will be accompanied at the start of the evening by China Moses, who is none other than her daughter!
A total of 30 groups or formations will perform on the two stages over the five evenings.
While Dee Dee Bridgewater will open the event, it will be the Brazilian Gilberto Gil, who was also an atypical Minister of Culture in Lula’s first government, who will close the festival with a band that also includes his son Bem, a guitarist like his father! Also noteworthy is the presence of the band Texas and Thomas Dutronc, who are also expected to draw crowds.
The two stages will be installed on the side of Place Masséna (with a capacity of up to 6,000 standing people) and in the Théâtre de Verdure (2,500 standing people) and will host concerts from 7:30 PM to midnight.
The children’s villages, the business village (with 10 private spaces available per evening), and seven merchant stands complete the organization managed by the municipal services under Caroline Magne-Ciotti’s coordination.
Pierre De Maria is responsible for the Jazz Off programming, with the final program to be unveiled on the occasion of the Fête de la Musique on June 21st.
The budget remains set at 3 million euros in expenses (600,000 for artist casting) with a bill of 1.7 million euros remaining at the expense of the Nice municipality.
The NJF 2012 Program
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Masséna Stage:
China Moses & Raphael Lemonnier
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Erykah Badu
Théâtre de Verdure:
New Meeting Quartet
Ibrahim Maalouf
Eddy Louiss / Richard Galliano 4tet
Monday, July 9, 2012
Masséna Stage:
Bernhoft
Gregory Porter
Selah Sue
Théâtre de Verdure:
Jean-Marc Jafet “Live Moments”
The Bad Plus & Joshua Redman
“An Evening with Herbie Hancock and His Band”
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Masséna Stage:
Beth Hart
Tinariwen
Texas
Théâtre de Verdure:
Jimi Brown Experience
Dr John
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Masséna Stage:
Trio Rosenberg
Thomas Dutronc
Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra
Théâtre de Verdure:
Sébastien Chaumont & Guest
Ron Carter “Golden Stricker” Trio
Ahmad Jamal
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Masséna Stage:
Harold Lopez Nussa
Amadou & Mariam
Gilberto Gil
Théâtre de Verdure:
Winner of the Platform
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
