The “Jazz under the Apple Trees” festival once again shone with its eclecticism and open-mindedness. From May 20 to 28, 2022, the 41st edition brought together artists from very diverse backgrounds capable of making the hearts of Norman spectators vibrate. In Coutances, in the northwest of France, inspiring Afro-planetary accents resonated with strength and determination. From Kokoroko to the Mandé Brass Band, from Lionel Loueke to Manou Gallo, the African diaspora met under the apple trees.
On May 24, 2022, the challenge of organizing an all-blues evening was crowned with success. However, it was not won because the audacity of this bluish night could have intimidated the public. It was the singer Cedric Burnside who appeared first on stage, alone, with his guitar. His stripped-down musicality, inherited from southern American rurality, caused a sensation. Like his grandfather, the illustrious and late RL Burnside, the brave bluesman managed to captivate the audience by letting himself be carried away by the moment and the echoes of an ancestral heritage. His repertoire, nourished by inspired notes from the Mississippi, transported lovers of rough blues to the heart of The epic of black music. Soon joined by a fiery drummer, Cedric Burnside effortlessly revitalized the soul of his elders who, at the beginning of the 20th century, were inventing a matrix and authentic form of expression. We can understand that his last album, I Be Tryingwon a Grammy Award.
The second part of this unique musical moment affirmed the different shades of historical blues. The singer Thornetta Davis, supported by an imposing brass orchestra, delivered a performance at odds with her predecessor. Ample, voluminous, consistent, his dynamic concert had soul and, at times, gospel accents that certainly embraced his cultural origins in the northern United States. Born in Detroit, Michigan, at a time when the Motown label was beginning to illuminate the international soundscape, Thornetta Davis admits having listened a lot, during her early youth, to the records of her contemporaries, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Jackson Five. However, he had to distinguish himself to exist in this universe of irresistible soul music. She therefore chose the blues and, following in the footsteps of her colleague Alberta Adams, became a very convincing performer. The Jazz Academy in Paris awarded him the prize for the best blues record in 2017 for his album Honest Woman.
This award, given by France, was in his eyes more valuable than the eight nominations for the Blues Music Awards in Memphis. She was happy to be honored away from home and her visit to Normandy, five years later, was the icing on the cake. This May 24, 2022, she realized that her voice was her sesame. Although her journey between Detroit and Coutances was strewn with pitfalls, she kept her promises and gave the best of herself to thank providence and the good taste of her admirers. At the end of her singing tour, Thornetta Davis delivered a message to the Norman public: “Let’s trust our feelings and believe in ourselves! We have enough love in our hearts and minds to share it and believe in the future. !”.
► Jazz Under the Apple Trees website.