Jill Rees: Welcome Press

It’s raining in beautiful Nantes but I’m impatient to set off and not to spend my money here in expensive Nantes with the jazz festival. Thanks to my friends for helping me stay here. I’ve spent time visiting the castle with its statue of Ste Anne, who joined Brittany to the crown of France, taking the fantastic tramway all around the place, and looking for Richard Rorty books for my Moroccan friend in the many super bookshops. Nantes is a university town, and this is the beginning of the Rentree, or school year starting, so it’s full of teenagers delighted to see each other again and stocking up for their studies. The French spend a lot on buying books, and serious reading is perfectly acceptable. Nevertheless Richard Rorty is not so easy to find, and I had to order it.

No I didn’t catch Rhona Scott; or the other world famous artists or if I did I didn’t know who they were, but anyone who was there please set us straight. Or maybe I saw big jazz bands but as it’s not the music I know about didn’t really know what I was hearing.

We went down to Nantes St Mihiel tramway and met the African girls with the kids to watch the opening ceremony. There were many speeches from the mayor and other dignitaries, along with the representation from the twin town in Japan. The previous night the Japanese troupe had performed their mix of song, dance and theatre, and several of their number were in the opening ceremony. The main performance however was the children playing orchestral music but how amazing to see these tiny kids holding enormously heavy trombones and playing like angels. the kids loved it. Dancing and moving to the jazz music, while old white couples with beards (usually the men) stood dead still concentrating.

Walking round along the riverbank where stages had been set up even on the river itself, we saw the Christian Vander Quartet featuring Ricky Ford, and wandered off by ourselves later. On Saturday we were back to see Rhoda Scott play her crazy organ with her all girl band. But the greatest of them all, despite the greatest musicians in the world being there, the world-class oboeist and the greatest drummer in the world, the crowd gathered for this last band on the stage on the river, a sextet (and I think that word would please them!) dedicated to breaking the back of the blues and singing really wierd and incredibly rude old French songs. Very funny, witty and …..yes girls, sexy. OK there is the guy who looks like Richard Gere “acting as a normal bloke” but that old worldly deeply confident in their sexuality, recognising their total beer-belly past-it-ness, honey I love you and if I ever find out your name I’ll be knocking at your door and making an arrangement with your wife who, if your own reports on your performance are true, should be more of a relief to her than anything else. These are guys you can trust to fix the broken pipe, just before they totter off for the usual half a shandy, constitution won’t tolerate anything stronger any more.

Loved by all, and how embarrassed did we feel to wander home happy in the recognition that we too are utter plebs. Jazz — it’s too difficult, monotonous and the solos/wanking sessions - is it just me?! Add your thoughts! It was a great atmosphere. Some people dancing and other people tutting. Should you move to jazz? I think yes how can you not? Came home and wrote strange jazz poem (see Poetry page)

Great photos some of these are in Nantes http://www.flickr.com/photos/mademoisellek/with/1305644172/

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