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Jacques Schwarz-Bart -][- Abyss – [ObliqSound, 2009]

Jacques Schwarz-Bart - Abyss

Undoubtedly Jacques Schwarz-Bart shares this vision put forth by the writer Patrick Chamoiseau, “The contemporary melting pot of cultures and ethnicities has created a worldwide phenomenon of “creolisation”.

This New York based jazz saxophonist, praised by major American soul artists, raised by a Black Guadeloupean mother and a French Jewish father-, grew up between Switzerland and Guadeloupe. The son of two award wining novelists, Jacques followed an original and sinuous path that speaks volume about his identity.

Jacques Schwarz-Bart comes from this background of parents concerned with Caribbean music, Caribbean history, as shown through their respective works, starting with “Pork and Green Bananas”, co written by Simone and André in 1967: “separation is a great ocean, where many have drowned”. Certainly, this reflection alluding to the tragedy of the crossing of the Atlantic from Africa, was food for thought for Jacques Schwarz-Bart, as it defines a common ground between all societies built on the enslavement of Africans, a common geo-historical space, and, furthermore, a common esthetics.

As part of that space, both Gwoka and Afro American/Jazz music attempt to exorcise the “hopes and torments of the creole soul”. Guy Conquete, the great Gwoka poet, foresaw the natural Union of those two musical forms: “Cotton fields, sugar cane fields”.

::: Source: BrotherJacques.com :::