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Wynton Marsalis stars at the Sete Jazz Festival

The Sète Jazz Festival attracts a world class line-up, led by the Jazz Ambassador himself

Wynton Marsalis stars at Sète jazz festivalSummertime in France means festivals. The entire country seems to erupt with art, rock, jazz, world music, classical music and drama. Modest-sized towns, even large villages, manage to attract world class performers.

This week, Sète hosts its jazz festival with perhaps the World's greatest jazz trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis, topping the bill on Wednesday 13 July.

Born in New Orleans and nicknamed "Jazz Ambassador", he's won a Grammy award, a Pulitzer Prize and been a United Nations Peace Messenger. France has awarded him the Médaille Nationale des Arts and the Légion d'Honneur.

He's so relaxed about it all, I just wonder what he'd have done if he'd really tried.


Here's the line-up for the rest of the week...

Cassandra Wilson sings at the Sète festivalTuesday 12 July
Cassandra Wilson, the talented American singer from Jackson, Mississippi, starts the festival.

By the age of six, she was playing the piano and graduated to the guitar at twelve. She turned professional in the mid 1970s.

Cassandra interprets vintage blues, country and folk music in creative ways. She's pursued an outstanding solo career since 1985 and is perhaps a forerunner of the jazz-pop vocalists such as Diana Krall and Melody Gardot.

Interestingly in the context of this festival, Cassandra sang a leading role in Wynton Marsalis' "Blood on the Fields" for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.


Chick Corea Stanley Clark Lenny WhiteThursday 14 July
It's return to Forever IV.

Pianist Chick Corea, bass player Stanley Clark, and drummer Lenny White have been ignoring the border between jazz and rock for over forty years.

Although each has an solo career, together they make up Return to Forever, a popular, almost mythical group.


Joshua Redman and Brad Mehidau at the Sète festivalFriday 15 July
There's a double bill - the duo Joshua Redman/Brad Mehidau followed by the Kyle Eastwood band.

Tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman has been a household name in the jazz world since the beginning of the 1990s.

He played with other line-ups including Pat Metheny and Charlie Haydfen before teaming up with pianist Brad Mehidau.

Their appearance at Sète is a special much longed for event.


Clint Eastwood plays bass at the Sète festivalEven non-jazz fans should make the connection here - the surname should ring a bell or two. Clint Eastwood's passion for jazz may have been an early influence on his son's development but bass player Kyle struck out on his own a long time ago.

Apart from his concert and recording career, Kyle has unsurprisingly provided the music behind many of his father's recent films.

Showing his ability as an accomplished composer, he began working in film with a contribution to the score for Mystic River. The film later won two Academy Awards.


Richard Bona and Raul Midon play at the Sète festivalSaturday, 16 July
The Duwala Malambo Project, featuring Richard Bona and Raul Midon. A unique event with two major artists - a gifted bassist and a guitar virtuoso.

Richard Bona is an excellent bassist and captivating vocalist who has managed to link African music with jazz and soul.

Raul Midon is often compared with some soul legends like Stevie Wonder. This American guitarist and vocalist can bewitch his audience with his warm and deep voice.


Musicians Sylvain, Luc bireli and Lagrene André CeccarelliSunday, 17 July
Sylvain Luc, Bireli Lagrene and André Ceccarelli.

Bringing these three musicians back together was fate, just meant to be. It was an idea so natural that it's surprising that no-one thought of it before.



French musician Patrick LeguidecoqRomane, real name Patrick Leguidecoq, is a french musician with a manouche style similar to Django Reinhardt.

Although not from gipsy origins, he inherited this way of playing early in his career. Here he's assembled a talented quartet of Mathieu Chatelain, Henri Dorina, Catherine Bougerol and Emmanuel Bex.


The venue is the Théatre de la Mer, an open air auditorium which clings to the rocks above the Mediterranean. To find it, travel through Sète town pass the lines of moored trawlers to the roundabout on the seafront. There are signs to parking on the harbour mole and adjacent to the corniche.

Tickets are available from larger supermarkets Carrefour, Hyper U, Géant Casino, Virgin, Cultura, Sauramps Odyssée, Auchan, Leclerc and the Tourist Office in Sète (60 Grand'rue Mario Roustan, 34200 Sète or Tel 04 99 04 71 71) or online at www.fnac.com.

A selection of links to Pure France holiday rental homes in the Sète area is included below. So if you are too late for this year be sure to book early for 2012!


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