“Baudelaire Jazz!” is a literary concert created by Patrick Chamoiseau (text/vocals) with Raphaël Imbert (saxophone), Celia Kameni (vocals), Sonny Troupé (percussions), and Pierre-François Blanchard (piano). First performed at the Musée d’Orsay in October 2021, this new iteration takes place at the Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (MUCEM, located at Fort Saint-Jean-Place d’Armes, in Marseilles, France) at 9:00pm. [A related book has been published by Éditions du Seuil. See previous post Baudelaire Jazz: Meditations poétiques et musicales.]

Patrick Chamoiseau (Texaco, Prix Goncourt 1992) and saxophonist Raphaël Imbert share a taste for poetry and jazz. It was during a residency at the Musée d’Orsay that Martinican writer immersed himself in the work of Baudelaire, whose freedom surely nourished that of Césaire, Glissant, or Fanon. The connection between the rhythmic structure of the 19th century poet’s words and that of jazz was obvious to these two great artists who love nothing more than to draw from the roots of a work to better tease out its modernity.

Accompanied by several artists, Patrick Chamoiseau and Raphaël Imbert summon, two hundred years after his birth, an unexpected Baudelaire who, like the blues, brings out the beauty of evil. “To pay homage to Baudelaire with what we are,” is the challenge of this creation in the form of a “chaos-opera” which will set Fort Saint-Jean ablaze with music, images and poetry.

Translated by Ivette Romero. For more information and original description, see https://www.mucem.org/programme/baudelaire-jazz

[Image above: Baudelaire Jazz © Eric Daribo © Nicolas Serve.]