African Rhapsody - Vinyle

Description

The Franco-Mauritanian pianist Leïla Olivesi is a brilliant artist of the French jazz scene, a recognized and highly sought-after composer and conductor. With her new album African Rhapsody, she pays a sunny tribute to the Africa of her origins. Since the album Astral in 2022, Leïla Olivesi has become the 6th woman to win the Django Reinhardt Prize from the Académie du jazz in 70 years. She has composed two new works: Rhapsody in Black for the International Philharmonic Choir (2024), and Tour du Monde en 80 Lunes for the Voco choir of the Hauts de Seine department (Seine Musicale, 2025), and she has conducted the Big Band Jazz AMU for the 2025 edition of the Marseille Jazz des 5 continents Festival. Raised since childhood on jazz, poetry, and the authors of négritude, the pianist has created a new musical universe tailored for her octet, where writing and improvisation blend together magically. As the pinnacle of the group, whose third album this is, African Rhapsody confirms the talents of the composer and showcases an inspired orchestra of soloists (Baptiste Herbin, Quentin Ghomari, Adrien Sanchez, Jean-Charles Richard, and Manu Codjia) enhanced by a new vocal and choral dimension.