Terre Mère – Jocelyn Ménard, 2012

In 2012, saxophonist Jocelyn Ménard produced his third album, Terre Mère. The album was recorded partly in Guadeloupe (Dominique Bérose, Raymond d’Huy, Fred Desplan, Raymond Grego) and partly in Paris (Grégory Privat, Olivier Juste, Gino Chantoiseau, Sonny Troupé). Jocelyn continues his multicultural work between his native Canada and his adopted Guadeloupe. He had started down this path with the Guanada concept (Charly Chomereau-Lamotte and Normand Deveault), later adapted as a big band on stage at the Pointe-à-Pitre jazz festival. In the meantime, he had recorded a Men Art Works quartet with master Alain Jean-Marie. Terre Mère blends jazz and blues with gwoka and zouk, with a few tasty featurings (Philippe d’Huy, Malika Tirolien, Rémi Bolduc, among others). Since Terre Mère, Jocelyn has multiplied his projects rooted in Guadeloupean tradition, such as Pwofesi a Man Jann, or his collaborations with his accomplice Gilbert Laumord. He also regularly hosts the New ‘Ti Paris evenings. Next Saturday, April 29, he’ll be at the Baiser Salé in Paris with his Caribbean Jazz Group, and it’s a rare opportunity to come and hear him. In any case, I’ll be there. See you there?