«A Love Supreme»
By the Ultima Chamada Company, in tribute to John Coltrane Musical theater based on the short story by Emmanuel Dongala, directed by Luc Clémentin.
Photo credit : Samuel Nja KwaWith the support of Tarmac Company from La Villette formerly the International French-Language Theater [Théâtre International de Langue Française (T.I.L.F.)]
“John Coltrane is not dead (…), we need to listen to some of Coltrane’s most beautiful charts down to the emotion”.
“Olivier Robin, furious on drums, Jean-Daniel Botta, subtle on the double bass, and especially Sébastien Jarrousse, moving on saxophones, run through the different registers of the musician.”
Le Monde
«A Love Supreme: borrowing from the musical the title of his most emblematic album, the Congolese writer Emmanuel Dongala, student in New York in the 1960s, painted the portrait of a period, a world in a short story. (…) But there is a music: four generous and inspired interpreters. From Piazzolla to Sting, from Mozart to Aznavour, from Stevie Wonder to Michael Jackson, they wow the “bluette” and leave a mark on memory”
Le Monde
“A rich, authentic and moving performance …”
Le Figaro Magazine
The Story
“J.C. is dead.” The man who spoke these words can hardly speak.
His interlocutor is frozen. The shock is tremendous for this young African who had immigrated to the United States and who learns that his idol has just passed away. J.C. is John Coltrane, the jazz saxophonist, friend of Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk and Archie Shepp, who had moved on to other adventures.
And it’s all the suffocating heat of this July 1967 day which comes back to us, the day when John Coltrane departed this life to greet the angels after having awoken the souls of the poor mortals during his mythical concerts. The memories rush back and ask nothing more than to be shared, mixed with jazz, to “make the love of the world felt, a love supreme”.
A Love Supreme: in this title, borrowed from the famous piece by John Coltrane, Emmanuel Dongala sums up in three words his perception of the musician who, through tenaciously pursing his work, aimed to make “his meditation by means of music open to God, i.e. to all, to the love of the world, of men…”. “A moving encounter” are the three words which could sum up the adaptation’s background and the staging of this short story. As the work progressed, the setting and the situation became obvious: from behind his bar, a manager of a jazz club can’t keep from telling the clients about his meeting – The Meeting – with John Coltrane, as soon as he hears a few bars from one of his pieces. He will recount these unforgettable moments when his path crossed with Coltrane’s along with the jazz trio which accompanies him…
A Love Supreme like the spiritual quest of a revolutionary creator, like the heart-rending memory of his husky lightening.
A Love Supreme like the memory of the America of segregation and the fight to put an end to it.
A Love Supreme like the realization of an exile and the astonishing gaze – fascinated and anxious – fixed on the African continent by the African American community.
A Love Supreme like an evening of jazz, like a moment of connivance, like complicitous sharing.
The Performers and Director
Luc Clémentin, director, established the Ultima Chamada Company in 2002 with the revival of the play Inconnu à cette adresse [Addresse Unknown] that he adapted and staged for the first time in 2001. To this day, the play has been performed hundreds of times. In 2007, he adapted and staged L’Etourdissement [Euphoria], by Joël Egloff, winner of the Inter 2005 book prize at Confluences /La Maison des arts urbains, before jumping into another project, Fauves, a production which will be performed in 2009.
Adama Adepoju, Ivoirian storyteller, has told stories for years to old and young in maquis, neighborhoods, and schools of Abidjan. His is as skillful speaking as singing or chanting and is breathtakingly enthusiastic. Actor, storyteller and true improviser, he knows how to be a griot, a singer, as well as a dancer, at 1000 volts of energy, moving from the unfurled laugh to “negotiated” irony.
Sébastien Jarrousse, soprano and tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger, has pursued a rich career, constantly mixing his passion for the stage with the more private activity of writing. Well known on the French and international jazz scenes, Sébastien Jarrousse won the first prize for soloists at the Sunside Trophées in 2003. He is also the leader, composer and arranger for the double album of Celtic jazz of the Sébastien Jarrousse Sextet, winner of multiple awards at the International Jazz Festival of La Défense in 2004.
Olivier Robin, drummer, performed his first concerts and tours with the German group DFF and the S.P.Quartet at the end of the 1980s. He performed at the Jazz Festival of Calgary with the Kenny Wheeler septet and the Steve Coleman quintet made up of participants of the Workshop, including the bassists Johannes Weidenmueller (Kenny Werner Trio) and Greg August (Ray Barretto Quintet). He would later tour with the Danish saxophonist and composer Henrik Frisk, as well as a series of concerts in Barcelona with the New York bassist Greg August’s quintet, especially with the saxophonist Bob Sands and the trumpeter Kurt Weiss.
Jean-Daniel Botta, double bassist, studied the instrument with Thomas Bramerie. In Paris, he learned the classical double bass with Stéphane Logerot, and went on to accompany not only American artists passing through the city (Eddie Henderson, Carlos Ward, etc.,) but also musicians on the Paris scene (David El-Malek, Alain Jean-Marie, Jérôme Barde). Since that time, he has toured Europe, Japan, South Africa and Russia.
The Ultima Chamada Company is supported by the Ile de France Regional Council. This performance received support from SPEDIDAM
Program
Personal musical theater. Length: 1 hour 15 minutes, no intermission.
Links to audio clips :
http://www.letarmac.fr/core.php?rub=spectacles&page=saison&cid=ASHOW43e76098dec47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjuaORpkue8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYtE8n0OOhA
Link to the Ultima Chamada Company’s website: http://www.ultimachamada.fr/index.html
Link to the Tarmac de la Villette’s website : www.letarmac.fr
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