Edition #2 Jazz à Semur – July 2022
Review of the second edition of the jazz festival held in Burgundy in the town of Semur-en-Auxois
Overview
The second edition of the Jazz à Semur festival took place in July 2022 in Semur-en-Auxois, confirming the event’s growing presence in Burgundy’s cultural landscape.
Building on the success of its debut year, the festival strengthened its identity through a diverse and accessible program, highlighting both experienced musicians and emerging talents. The event continued to promote jazz as an open and evolving art form, blending traditional influences with contemporary sounds.
Our second poster
For this edition, graphic designer Franck Dujoux, a long-time partner of the festival, created a 2022 variation of the original poster, maintaining visual continuity while renewing its artistic expression.
Program
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Dany CAILLET (guitars), Alain PEPIN (bass), Jean-Marc REMY (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Jean-Pierre SIMON (drums)
Between the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta, the clubs of Chicago neighborhoods, the banks of the Armançon and the plains of the Auxois.
van DAVID (guitar-vocals), Jean-Michel BOVE (drums – backing vocals), Greg THEVENIAU (bass – backing vocals), Sébastien VAIVRAND (Hammond organ – backing vocals)
These are four experienced musicians whose paths cross at the crossroads of African-American music. With blues as their means of expression, they merge into a single, compact voice that brings out solid grooves and fusion improvisations. The magic happens and the music retains that freshness of energy and shared joy.
Friday, July 8, 2022
Léo MOLINARI (guitar, moog), Romain MAITROT (trumpet, flugelhorn), Nicolas CANAVAGGIA (double bass, bass), Léo DELAY (drums)
A bold, inventive jazz, satellite-like sounds, electrifying layers stretching and transforming into furious choruses, and the winds of the Atlas blow for a moment an untamed music with intoxicating echoes.
In partnership with the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Regional Jazz Center
Jérémie GUILLEMIN (tenor saxophone, effects), Anne-Elisabeth DECOLOGNE (double bass, effects), Adrien DESSE (drums, percussion).
Animal jazz in search of electricity. SuperChevreuil comes out of the woods in 2022 with new sound and the energy of horned beasts!
In partnership with the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Regional Jazz Center
Saturday, July 9, 2022
Naïma GIROU (contrebasse, voix), Jules LE RISBÉ (piano), John OWENS (guitare), Thomas DOMÉNÉ (batterie)
Naïma GIROU (double bass, vocals), Jules LE RISBÉ (piano), John OWENS (guitar), Thomas DOMÉNÉ (drums)
A rather rare thing worth highlighting, Naïma GIROU is a singer and double bassist. Surrounded by her three very talented partners, with whom she has been co-composing since the creation of the group in 2016, Naïma GIROU opens up even more on this second album: a simple, beautiful jazz open to the world that reflects their moods, their concerns, and their hopes.
Olivier BERNARD (sax), Mickaël SÉVRAIN (keyboards), Maxime FORMEY (bass), Jérôme ROUBEAU (drums)
Olivier BERNARD (sax), Mickaël SÉVRAIN (keyboards), Maxime FORMEY (bass), Jérôme ROUBEAU (drums)
For more than 20 years, Olivier and Mickaël have crossed paths on different projects. From their beginnings within the Collectif Q to the Mickaël Sévrain 5tet, an opportunity arises to carry out a duo project. Two is better, but four is even better! So they decide to call on a powerful rhythm section: Maxime and Jérôme. The quartet shares the same taste for grooving rhythms with steps more or less. But never losing sight of the refrain! It plays and goes far!
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Yannick ALCOCER (guitar), Jean LARDANCHET (violin), Sylvain POURRAT (double bass), Laurent VINCENZA (guitar)
For 10 years they have been touring the most beautiful festivals in France and Europe: from Jazz à Vienne to the Djangofollies, Nancy Jazz Pulsations, Berlin, Zürich, Geneva, Prague… Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli watch over them, but their interpretations and compositions look forward, with a modernism sometimes tinged with pop or rock. Humor is their trademark and takes nothing away from their finesse as great musicians.
Camille THOUVENOT (piano), Christophe LINCONTAN (double bass), Andy BARRON (drums)
Presentation of his new album Crésistance. Crésistance is an album like a diary in which Camille Thouvenot would record her personal impulses and a deep yet gentle conviction, encouraging her to think that “true resistance comes through creation,” thus echoing Stéphane Hessel and the CNR who said “To create is to resist.”
Excerpt from the 2022 press release
“This year, it was decided to streamline the organisation by concentrating the performances on the first three days on a main stage in the Town Hall park, right in the heart of the historic centre.
Sunday will be an opportunity for the public to discover the famous Joly Park, on the banks of the Armançon, for a concert in the shade, before heading to this superb, newly restored Italian-style theatre for a closing concert.
Over four days, there will be a series of around ten concerts featuring a mix of regional musicians and internationally renowned artists, alongside an educational programme (bringing together amateurs and professionals) featuring performances by the music school’s workshops to open the concerts. “
Key Characteristics of the 2022 Edition
- A multi-day program combining concerts, emerging artists, and established performers
- A strong emphasis on diversity of styles, from blues and swing to experimental and contemporary jazz
- Continued support for regional musicians and partnerships, particularly with the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Jazz network
- A festival atmosphere designed to be accessible, intimate, and engaging
Summary
The 2022 edition reinforced Jazz à Semur’s identity as a dynamic, human-scale festival, combining artistic ambition with a welcoming environment.
By balancing tradition and innovation, the festival confirmed its role as a growing cultural event in Burgundy, appealing to both jazz enthusiasts and a wider audience.