Saxophone virtuosos Carmen Lefrançois and Camille Maussion join forces in Mamie Jotax, their sonic and dreamlike duo. They have drawn influences from all corners of the world, happily mixing genres from jazz to contemporary music and from folk music to free improvisation. Mamie Jotax is one of the four shinning laureates of Jazz Migration on tour in 2023.
Their Baltic tour starts with a residency in Helsinki on May 4th-7th. It continues with two concerts in Estonia on May 8h-9th and five concerts in Latvia till May 14th.
Mamie Jotax is first and foremost a joyful syllabic chimera, born from a random sneeze with an added pinch of onomatopoeia. A bud that jolts the imagination and pervades bewitching and unusual worlds. And then, Mamie Jotax swiftly became a spirit. A bubble filled with ideals, curiosity and madness that hovers over the two musicians. A kind of manifesto in the form of an old suitcase, where the two explorers collect everything along on their path that deserves to be kept, as well as everything that is yet to exist.
Mamie Jotax is also a fraternal and maternal muse, as rough and wrinkled as a thousand-year-old tree, a precious counsellor who bestows her philosophy along with a grain of madness. She is also the eternal child whose mischievousness and enthusiasm illuminate the at-times nebulous mazes of creation. Mamie Jotax knows also how to don the appearance of characters who have marked our lives with their wisdom, their audacity, their fantasy or their genius. She is the cortege of our masters, even our devils and our loves.
Carmen Lefrancois & Camille Maussion (c) Laurent Villarem
Carmen Lefrançois: alto, soprano and baritone saxophone, flute, vocals, compositions
Camille Maussion: soprano and tenor saxophone, vocals, compositions
https://jazzmigration.com/language/en/laureat/mamie-jotax-2/
Tour program from May 4th to 14th 2023
FINLAND Residency in Helsinki
in cooperation with the French Institute of Finland
Thu 04/05 Sibelius-Akatemia / workshop
Fri 05/05 Annantalo / 2 mini concerts
Sat 06/05 Woodoo Music Club @ Hardrock House (Roihuvuori)
Sun 07/05 Home concert
ESTONIA in cooperation with Uus Kontsert and the French Institute of Estonia
Mon 08/05 Kõrgessaare Vaba Aja Keskus
Tue 09/05 Mõniste Rahvamaja
LATVIA in cooperation with Via Ars
Wed 10/05 Riga, VEF Culture Palace
Thu 11/05 Preili, Primary school
Fri 12/05 Jekabpils, Castle of Krustpils
Sat 13/05 Madona, Museum of art and local history / Night of the museums
also Vincent Courtois, cello
Sun 14/05 Luznava Manor
Tour production: Vapaat äänet / in the frame of Jazz Migration
Tour support: AJC – Association Jazzé Croisé, French Institute of Finland, French Institute of Estonia
In cooperation with Soitin Laine (Helsinki)
