Lisa Simone was in concert at the Hospitalet Festival on Sunday evening.
The Hospitalet Jazz Festival has been held every year since 2004 at the Château de l’Hospitalet near Narbonne in the Aude region. It is an unmissable international experience, combining the taste of jazz with that of wine and gastronomy, allowing the development of tourism, culture and the countryside.
Each year, the festival hosts jazz stars on 5 dates. This year, for the 16th edition, Melody Gardot, Craig David, Ben l’Uncle Soul, Zazie and Lisa Simone & Big Band Garonne were able to celebrate the 5 days of jazz, art and gastronomy in this magnificent castle. Unfortunately, due to weather problems, Zazie’s concert was canceled at the last moment.
A concert of jazz and variety, various and varied exhibitions, art have its place at the Château de l’Hospitalet, a 13th century building overlooking the Mediterranean, in the heart of the protected massif of La Clape, whose vocation was to welcome the hospices of Narbonne.
Since 2002, the former rugbyman Gérard Bertrand has been the owner of the estate, which is divided into several activities, a 3 star hotel, a restaurant, the Jazz Festival in summer, a tasting cellar and numerous wine-tasting activities that perfectly illustrate the motto of Hospitalet sine vino, vana hospitalitas » (without wine, vain is hospitality). …
Born in January 1965 in Narbonne (11), Gérard Bertrand is a former rugby union player and a wine entrepreneur. After having spent much of his career at RC Narbonne, he finished her in 1994 with a year at Stade Français.
Following his father’s death in 1987, when he was only 22 years old, he returned to the family estate of Villemajou, in the Corbières, parallel to rugby. By developing the quality of his wines, he became the ambassador of Languedoc and grew his estate from 60 to 750 ha in 30 years. It grows 2/3 of this domain, that is 450 ha in biodynamy. Biodynamics rehabilitate soil organic life by prohibiting the use of pesticides and synthetic products. This technique became more popular from the 2000s onwards, and is used in wine growing where the grapes used for the production of wine must themselves be produced from organic wine growing in order to qualify for the certification of a biodynamic label. In Languedoc-Roussillon, there are 12 domains whose wines are distributed in 150 countries.
Gérard Bertrand, with a worldwide reputation, produces wines in different varieties, from wines with appellations of origin, from sulfur-free wines to cuvées raised in oak barrels, but also the world’s brightest rosé at low prices and the most expensive rose in the world « Le Clos du Temple » at about 190 euros per nicely carved bottle. Designed as a vintage wine cellar, this rosé was created 7 years after the « Clos d’Ora » to be unique and gastronomic so that it can accompany the most refined dishes and enter the family of great wines, just as white and red. It comes from 5 varieties: the five grape varieties that make up the cuvée: Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Viognier, from the vineyard of the Cabrières Valley. Its launch took place last June in front of the privileged few gathered at Guy Savoy.
Since 2004, the owner of the venue has been working on a jazz program designed like his own, because for him, « there is not a jazz but a lot of variation like in the vineyard. » Lisa Simone is this year’s winner.
Lisa Simone, daughter of Nina Simone and Andew Stroud, was born on September 12, 1962 in Mount Vernon, New York. At the age of 8, she traveled with her mother, first to Barbados, then to Japan and Australia, then to Liberia. After a stopover in Switzerland , not far from Geneva, she returned to the United States to settle with her father in New York. In 1977, she joined a gospel group in Hudson and joined the Air Force in 1980 and joined Frankfort in Germany for 5 years and the site of development in engineering. After the Gulf War, she remained in the army but in civilian life and shared 2 activities, singer at night and choreographer assistant during the day. In the years that followed, she was even awarded the National Broadway Theater Award as the best musical actress in 2002 for her role in Aida, and was honored for Mimi Marquez’s role as Best Actress of Musical Comedy in « Rent » by the Helen Hayes and Joseph Jefferson awards.
On 11 May 2019, in the margins of the concert she gave at the Longjumeau Theater (91), as part of the Jazz Festival, a Nina-Simone alley that leads to the auditorium of the theater was inaugurated in her presence and that of her daughter, Rehanna. This summer, on August 28, she performed at the Hospitalet Jazz Festival. She will release her 3rd studio album next September.
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