Jocelyn Menard’s Caribbean Jazz Group puts the Caribbean at the center of a fusion where jazz and dance are omnipresent. The leader, saxophonist and composer, originally from Montreal, has been living in Guadeloupe for over thirty years. He continues the path initiated with his album Terre-Mère – and even earlier within the trio Guanada – by proposing compositions that mix jazz, gwoka, funk, biguine and even zouk, in the straight line of mythical orchestras like the Caribbean Jazz Ensemble, Tropic Fusion, Fal Frett etc.
The Jocelyn Ménard Caribbean Jazz Group has been playing for several years in Guadeloupe and the Caribbean. Jocelyn Ménard has gathered around him a team of talented and faithful companions. Let’s mention Jean-Michel Lesdel (pno), Sonny Troupé (dms) and Klod Kiavué (perc), whose combined experiences reach summits (Kenny Garrett, David Murray, Robert Oumaou, Jean-Christophe Maillard, Lisa Simone, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Franck Nicolas, Kafé…). The bassist Régis Thérèse (Caraib II Jazz, Bago, Mizikopeyi) and the singer Leedyah Barlagne (Dominik Coco, Christian Laviso, Raymond d’Huy) complete the current sextet.
We go from a padjanbel to a blues, from a biguine to a mendé, in a register where Latin jazz and swing are never far away. The music of the Caribbean Jazz Group takes the definition of the word fusion literally and will leave you anything but indifferent, in an atmosphere where the temperature rises without limit.