A few notes from Céline Bonacina and her quartet this Sunday. Recorded in concert at the 2024 Marciac Jazz Festival by Radio France on July 30, 2024. She is joined by Grégory Privat on piano and keyboards – Chris Jennings on bass and John Hadfield on drums.
Bonacina was a familiar face on the Big Band scene in France between 1996 and 1998 before going solo and putting a bevy of cohorts together with her. Her debut album, Vue d’en Haut was released in 2005.
Since then, she’s gone on to establish herself as a vital and innovative voice on the French Jazz scene. She has collaborated with musicians such as the French pianist Laurent de Wilde, Cuban pianist Omar Sosa, vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, saxophonist Andy Sheppard and guitarists Yannick Robert and Nguyên Lê. In addition, and she temporarily supplemented the Funk Unit of the Swedish trombonist Nils Landgren.
Her album Way of Life, which is based almost exclusively on her own compositions, was recorded with a trio comprising the French Nicolas Garnier (bass guitar) and the Malagasy Hary Ratsimbazafy (drums and percussion) and the guitarist Nguyên Lê as a guest musician. In November 2010 she took part with her trio at the JazzFest Berlin.
In 2013, after the release of Open Heart, she created a sextet to play the music of this album, involving Leila Martial on vocals, Illya Amar on vibes & electronics, Romain Labaye on bass and vocals, Nicolas Leroy on percussion and Hary Ratsimbazafy on drums. The sextet performed in the two major jazz festivals in France: Jazz à Vienne and Jazz in Marciac, but also Paris Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival as well as many venues in France and Europe.
Bonacina has won a number of saxophonist prizes in classical and jazz, such as the Defense Concours national jazz festival and the Festival Jazz – La Ciotat.
If you haven’t spent any time checking out what’s going on in Europe these days, definitely put it on your bucket list of adventures to partake in. France especially, is a rich and diverse scene that you can spend a lifetime investigating – a lot going on.
If you aren’t already familiar, press play and dive into the heady sounds of Céline Bonacina – a trip worth taking and a ticket worth holding on to.
