Day 1
The opening night at the Carthage Jazz festival offered us the talents of two UK artists: Liam Bailey and Myles Sanko
Liam Bailey
Despite the presence of a jazzily caressed double bass, and just one brief jazz infused solo by the excellent keyboard player, Liam’s music is not what one can term as Jazz. His wonderful vocal style struck me as more old school R ‘n’ B – almost a cross between James Brown & Otis Redding, with a few Amy Winehouse inflections thrown into the mix, too.
I was totally bemused as to where the naming of this event had come from. However, the misleading banner above the stage should not detract from the obvious ability of Liam and his band, and the outstanding songs they offered. For me, he is one of the most interesting and talented singers to emerge from the UK in recent years.
Myles Sanko
Just as far removed from Jazz was the suave, smooth sound of Myles Sanko. Admittedly, there may have been some fusion, whereby the sound could be labelled at best, Smooth Jazz, but this was sporadic. There was such a strong presence of soul within the music (and vocals), it would be difficult to label it as anything else. The musical Jazz references were definitely there, but almost incidental. Make no mistake. This is a great band, but I would describe the music as soul with a light sprinkling of jazz influence.
Day 2
My second night at the festival was a bit of a disaster. The artist I was really looking forward to hearing was UK artist Tom Odell. As it turned out, he was top of the bill, and would appear later in the evening. Judging from the previous night’s offering, I was set to listen to another great act beforehand. Alas, this was far from the case.
Aaron
The first act was Aaron, a French act with a huge following here in French speaking Tunisia. However, it would appear that having a huge following, plus Elvis’s middle name, does not automatically entitle you to possess talent, and this became evident to me by the third bar of music. (Yes, that soon!).
I understand and appreciate that music is subjective. Suffice to say, this was really not my kind of music, and was even further removed from Jazz than all previous acts. The music? It was like a poor man’s Depeche Mode, (with an attempted Rock edge), and with far, far less talent than the legendary DP. Perhaps they had decided to fuse together Jazz and Funk, and had succeeded in coming up with Junk! With regards the Rock element within this miserable music, all I can say is:
No Mosh Pit, just The Pits.
I’ll say no more….
Tom Odell
Yet more disappointment was to follow. After my ears had been assaulted by Aaron for what seemed like an age, there followed the obligatory changeover time. A quick sound check, and without too much fuss, Tom Odell arrived and proceeded to do his thing, and, like Mr Kipling, he did it exceedingly well. The unfortunate thing was that I was only able stay until midway through his third song, as dinner had been booked for me and my friends, on the basis that Tom would be performing first. My friend Lucy was so dejected that I have since contacted Tom (as a fellow musician) and asked if I could bring her to a London show as a guest. I am hoping that he is not one of those musicians whose ego has become too inflated to respond positively, and I look forward to setting up a night with him, his band, some excellent piano playing, and of course, those vocals, soon….
Day 3
Day three was absolutely superb. The two acts on show, were 47Soul, from Palestine, followed by Wust El Balad, from Egypt, in that order. I am a huge fan of Arabic music, and was hoping the music of these two would indeed, be influenced by the Middle East, and thankfully, this was very much the case.
47 Soul
Unfortunately, my schedule for the day did not go as anticipated, and I arrived at the festival on this night much later than planned, but in time to hear just the last two songs by 47Soul. I won’t waste time by eulogising about their incredible, percussion driven sound. Suffice to say I was enthused enough to buy their cd as I was leaving, which at 20 Dinars (£8), was a bargain.
Wust El Balad
This Egyptian band were more eclectic in their presentation. Again, the Middle East sound was heavily present, but this did not prevent forays into Pop, Rock, and even Reggae. There was even a tune with a slow 2/4 beat which the crowd swayed to, but could easily have been translated into a mega Waltz. All in all, I felt that tonight I had seen two great acts.
On this third night, I was cornered on the way out by a tv crew, (obviously because I am Western), who wanted to know if I “like Arabic music”. Of all people to ask!! I was more than pleased to share my pleasure at hearing these two acts, whilst letting them know that I was here as a guest of the Tunisian Tourist Board.
The Carthage Jazz Festival is held over a period of 11 days, and usually happens at the end of March/beginning of April. Details can be found at: www.carthagejazzfestival.com
If you are a music fan who likes to travel to gigs, I would suggest you make time for a visit. It’s not only a great event, but you get the benefit of exploring this great, quite innocent country, where people are incredibly friendly.
Footnote:
On my return to the UK, I bumped into 47Soul at Gatwick, and after giving me a complimentary cd, lead singer Walid took my details to let me know when they are performing in London. I look forward to that…