Lizz Wright and Brad Mehldau light up Jazz à Juan

As well as being one of the swankiest little resorts on the French Riviera, Juan-Les-Pins is host to one of the earliest European jazz festivals, opening as Antibes Jazz Festival in 1960. The natural setting of its ‘live’ concerts contrasts with the town’s touristic artifice; the seafront is the backdrop to the main stage and the audience sit under an umbrella of pine groves while the gently rippling waves and sleepy boats at dusk create an idyllic ambient backdrop for ‘live’ jazz.

The 62nd edition boasted its typically audience-friendly yet genuinely diverse mix of stars from jazz, blues, world and rock music universes with a new initiative focussing on female artists. At the midway point, the Georgian vocalist Lizz Wright, who originally rode the new wave of noughties post-Norah Jones vocal jazz, presented her reliably sensuously understated blend of sleepy intimacy and earthy blues-rooted gruff, with the kind of down-home quartet she said she’d always dreamed of, featuring Cassandra Wilsons ex-guitarist Marvin Sewell and keyboardist Bobby Ray Sparks II.

The hum of expectation greeted the New Age classical pianist-composer phenomenon Ludovico Einaudi, perhaps the missing link between Philip Glass and Andrew Lloyd Webber, making his debut here in front of a sell-out audience. Although not written about in jazz magazines, he’s known for his ‘live’ improvisation, his music’s trance-like calm is undeniably a welcome distraction in a complex, chaotic universe.

Brad Mehldau Trio - Photo by Rivierakris

The next night a young unknown virtuoso Israeli pianist-vocalist Guy Mintus stole the show with a suavely energetic performance, his trio covering Hebrew song, stride, middle-eastern modes and Gershwin with a largely derivative yet eloquent showbiz-jazz energy. A Jammin’ Summer Session daytime mini-series of concerts showcased local and international talent and the Netherlands-based Chi Quartet led by young pianist-composer Siu Tin-Chi, was a stand out with her delicately-crafted chamber-jazz at the Petit Pinede.

The French multi reedist/flautist Sophie Alour was on the same stage last year but had one hell of a promotion to the big one this year, but her ensemble’s ambient, low-key music inflected with influences from North Africa, Middle-east and the Caribbean didn’t really take off. With all the attention on Brad Mehldau’s solo Beatles project and his expansive conceptual prog/electronica ventures, the pianist’s impact on piano trio jazz during the past few decades is easily forgotten. Jazz A Juan gave us a timely reminder even if Mehldau’s trio with Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier focussed largely on refining jazz standards, albeit with some Beach Boys and David Crosby thrown in to the mix.

Twin-towned with New Orleans, Juan Les Pins hosted a native Branford Marsalis and his quartet. Boisterously ramping up the gears, Marsalis’ horn recalled a broad spectrum of greats from the tough tenors of Gonsalves and Rollins through to Trane and Garbarek. Echoing that night’s Bastille celebrations, Marsalis’ had likewise paid tribute to jazz’s deep-rooted revolutionary spirit.