Nestling between two dividing branches of the river Senegal, Saint-Louis greets a curious migratory species each spring. Following the birds who head out across the Sahara and rest their weary wings on the Barbarie coast, a second flock emerge on the horizon in late May, bearing an assorted mix of trumpets, congos and saxophones on their backs. The more adventurous of these annual travellers have even made the long journey with their arms enlaced around a double bass (having refused to surrender their beloved instrument to the airplane hold).

A brief history of the Saint-Louis Festival

The motivating force behind the migration of this loud and colourful flock - who have descended on the oasis of Saint-Louis for the past ten years? Blame it on the Canadian missionaries who settled in Saint-Louis du Sénégal all those years ago and played a bizarre mix of jazz classics over their school loudspeakers! The Canadian fathers’ charges were introduced to the sound of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Thelonius Monk at an early age. And young Abdoukhadre Diallo pricked up his ears to listen to the smoky vocals and screaming trumpets issuing from his classroom ceiling. He also spent many a happy hour sneaking into the fathers’ record-player HQ and poring over album covers yellowed with age. Thus it was that the sound of Saint-Louis, Missouri, arrived in Saint-Louis, Senegal.

Diallo grew up into an enterprising young man and went on to open the very first youth hostel in West Africa. But he owes his greatest claim to fame to the formative influence of the Canadian missionaries! For, having nourished a lifelong passion for jazz since his schooldays, Diallo decided to create a jazz festival in his hometown, Saint-Louis. Things were admittedly a little makeshift in the festival’s early days and Diallo’s budget obviously did not run to flying the Three Tenors in from Europe! But the young jazz entrepreneur managed to put together an impressive line-up for his first festival, nevertheless, rallying local bands such as Indigo and Wallo Afro.

Saint-Louis ten years on

A great deal of water has passed under the majestic metallic arches of the Faidherbe bridge since then, of course. Ten years on Abdoukhadre Diallo has extended his scope and his budget. And these days the Saint-Louis Jazz Festival boasts a prestigious list of partners including the French cultural institute, the Senegalese ministries of culture and tourism, the European Union, the ministry of French co-operation, the Saint-Louis town council and several private sponsors. Thanks to these partners and Diallo’s creative force, the Saint-Louis festival has established itself as a unique musical event - for no other music festival in Africa offers such a remarkable variety of styles and musicians in such a convivial setting. Indeed, any serious music fan attempting to attend all the concerts programmed at the main stage in Place Faidherbe, the «fringe festival» organised along the river banks and the impromptu jam sessions that flare up in any available bistro would be hard put to get a moment’s sleep in the course of the festival’s four-day run!

Saint-Louis offers many musical highlights, but none so enjoyable as the unlikely partnerships that spring up between visiting musicians. Who could come up with a more perfect fusion sound than Doudou Ndiaye Rose’s pounding drums and the infectious jazz syncopations of Belgian group Aka Moon or the combination of the high-pitched vocals of Abdou (lead singer from the group Wock) and Joe Zawinul’s keyboards mixed with Paco Sery (from Côte d’Ivoire) on drums and Etienne Mbappé (from Cameroon) on bass? And, talking of perfect Afro-fusion sounds, who could possibly outdo Saint-Louis’s own «Orchestre Jazz Europe Afrique» (see full review below).

But it’s every bit as pleasant to find oneself on the edge of the desert - Mauritania is just across the border, after all! - and hear the bluesy melodies of Judith Sephuma and Sipho Gumede (from South Africa) or the sophisticated arrangements of Paul Van Kemenade’s Dutch band drifting across the pure night air. Meanwhile, local groups such as the »Opus Jazz de Saint-Louis» prove that the seed of jazz has successfully germinated in the sub-Saharan soil too!

A Festival on a human scale

The only false note in this year’s eclectic but coherent programme turned out to be Youssou N’Dour. The Senegalese king of m’balax appeared to have trouble throwing himself into his performance - indeed, the normally exuberant star kept his hands firmly in his pockets throughout his disappointingly static set! - and seemed to spend most of his time wondering what exactly he was doing in Saint-Louis. Youssou’s attitude, and his set, would have been infinitely better if he had taken the trouble to mix up a little fusion cocktail with a couple of other visiting musicians (as he has done at other festivals in the past).

Youssou’s performance aside, the 10th Saint-Louis Jazz Festival was a resounding success, as the Senegalese tourist minister Ousmane Massek Ndiaye (born and bred in Saint-Louis), pointed out when he addressed the audience at the end of the festival’s four-day run. Monsieur Ndiaye also intimated that he hoped the festival would play a role in putting his hometown on the tourist map. We share his optimism, of course - but can’t help thinking, rather selfishly, that the undying charm of Saint-Louis lies in its human scale, its approximations and its small imperfections. After all, it would be a shame if the Senegalese spring jazz fest lost its famous warmth and conviviality... All we can say is, God forbid that Saint-Louis should ever turn into Montreux!!!

Jean-Jacques Dufayet

The Europe Africa Jazz Orchestra (OJEA) got the10th Saint-Louis Jazz Festival off to a great start. Led by saxophonist François Jeanneau, this ensemble of six European and six African musicians plays a demanding yet generous repertoire. This superb riverside festival has amply deserved its reputation for bringing cultures together.

Forming the group was a real challenge in itself. The fact that half the musicians came from Africa and the other half from all over Europe meant that it was a logistical nightmare. The twelve players had to get together to rehearse over the ten-day residency in Saint-Louis, each musician adding his personal experience and musical tastes to the creative melting-pot. But the OJEA (also known as the Saint-Louis Jazz Orchestra, thanks to the local support they benefited from) successfully rose to the challenge. The gorgui ("elder" or leader of the group) is François Jeanneau, the internationally celebrated Parisian saxophonist and composer/arranger, and in 1986 the first leader of the French National Jazz Orchestra (ONJ). "For me, this initiative is very much a continuation of my work on the Ile de la Réunion from 1987 to 1991 with the Maloya musicians" he explains. "Extending my research and cultural exchanges to Africa, where jazz originally came from, seemed both absolutely relevant and indispensable. When the idea was proposed by the Festival of Saint Louis and Pierre Tissot, at that time the Director of the French Cultural Centre (CCF), I immediately agreed to the project."

On May 15, this pan-African, pan-European ensemble launched the 10th Saint-Louis Jazz Festival. Although things took a little while to warm up, it was clear from the start that this rich blend of music promised much. The concept was original, with two drummers (Aziz Diop from Dakar along with Joe Quitzke, a Swede raised in Spain, living in Paris) and two basses (Kiki Bocandé on bass guitar and Stéphane Kerecki on double bass). This set-up echoes the one Ornette Coleman used in the 1960s; it allows a whole variety of rhythmic combinations and can be used to highlight the drumming; or, on the other hand can create all sorts of musical colours and nuances.

When Ablaye Cissokho (Saint Louis) on kora gets together with Kerecki (France) on bass, the result is a subtle blend of sounds and rythmns. The music starts off slow and easy, like the undulating landscape of the steppes; later, the rhythm section leads us to lusher pastures, with rawer, nervy beats. The crystal sound of the kora is fired with the high-energy cocktail of drums and percussion.

In addition to original compositions by the musicians, the ensemble's repertoire also includes three traditonal Senegalese pieces (Niaani, Taara and Awa) proposed by Ablaye Cissokho and beautifully arranged by François Jeanneau. Production quality was also particularly fine (thanks to sound engineer Vincent Méheny and equipment from Youssou N'Dour's company). All the ingredients were there for an exceptional performance! As Mbagnick Ngom put it a couple of days later in the daily newspaper l'Info 7: "The Saint-Louis Jazz Orchestra played with real brio!"

François Jeanneau first came up with the idea of Eurafricaine in 1999, on a visit to Saint-Louis with the POM. "We started talking about it, particularly with Pierre Tissot, who at the time was in charge of the CCF at Saint-Louis," explains the saxophonist. "It took almost a year to get the project up and running." In 2000, the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris (CNSMD) advertised for musicians throughout European music schools and organised auditions for European musicians. Pierre Tissot supervised the selection of the African members of the orchestra. This was not easy, since the idea was to attract musicians not only through the CCF network but across the entire African continent. "We had to go out in the field to seek the musicians we needed," says Pierre Tissot, who now promotes the development of Senegalese (and more generally African) arts in an independent capacity. "Indeed, this is very much the thinking behind the French/Saint-Louis association we are setting up at the moment, called Jazz Europe Africa (AJEA)," he explains. "The statutes of this new organisation are similar to those of the Parisian association which manages ONJ; AJEA will be responsible for the administration of OJEA. We need to be open to both the France's international cultural network as well as to other associations. The results of the recent presidential election reflected a rise in xenophobia, besmirching the reputation France as well Europe. Which means OJEA's role is not only artistic but also symbolic."

The two-week residencies at the 2001 and 2002 Saint-Louis Jazz Festivals have borne fruit. At its latest concert at the Place Faidherbe, OJEA offered a demanding, high-quality program which was warmly received by a very broad audience which contained not just enthusiasts but many ordinary music lovers as well. There was a feeling of real euphoria in the air as the audience listened to the Swedish saxophonist's inventive replies to the ensemble's percussionist who comes from Sor, a working class area of Saint-Louis.

Saint Louis Jazz 2002 presented a program worthy of the major European festivals. At a time when people across the planet are increasingly retreating into their own cultures, OJEA is opening its arms to the world with its message of humanity and exchange of ideas.

Farah Rivière

Website: http://www.saintlouisjazz.com/

Aka Moon &Doudou N'Diaye Rose / Live at Vooruit (Carbon 7)

Website: http://www.akamoon.com/