Herve Samp

In the organizer's words:

The Senegalese guitarist, composer and arranger Hervé Samb is one of the defining personalities of a music that combines African traditions and contemporary jazz in his own unique way. As the founder of Jazz Sabar, he combines the rhythmic structures of Senegal with jazzy improvisation, blues colors and complex melodies. His work has received international recognition, including a Grammy nomination.
Instead of harmonic layering, he creates networks of melody, rhythm and sound that are constantly changing in a magical way and at the same time seem transcendently repetitive.
His guitar, whether acoustic or electric, is often used as a percussive melody instrument, inspired by the kora and the singing traditions of the West African griots. Classical jazz forms and pieces such as Coltrane's Giant Steps are also reinterpreted in this context and embedded in African structures.
Accompanied by musicians from the Senegalese scene, the result is a dense, powerful interplay. Traditional voices meet modern forms of expression, rap and pop colors combine with centuries-old patterns. Hervé Samb makes the cultural structures of his origins not an ornament, but the starting point of a music that is both deeply rooted and open to new paths.