Vive le Jazz | Papanosh (FR)

“Take five musicians from among France’s finest young jazz artists, equip them with encyclopaedic musical knowledge, mix it all together thoroughly – and there you have Papanosh,” wrote Ludovic Florin about the band, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. They had no intention of celebrating this significant anniversary with a nostalgic photo album or by sketching out a grand musical narrative; instead, they developed a collective repertoire that faithfully reflects who they really are. The programme has been titled *Yes I Are!*, continuing the tradition of their previous shows’ comical English titles, which subtly allude to their light-hearted approach to the seriousness of contemporary music. In this new chapter of their story, Sébastien Palis enriches the sound of the piano with the distinctive timbres of the mellotron, whilst Raphaël Quenehen complements his saxophone playing with percussion and flutes collected from all over the world.