Shades | Les Mécanos

From Harlem jazz to Occitan polyphony, Shades and Les Mécanos celebrate youth, rhythm and friendship through vocal tradition.

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Shades | Les Mécanos

Choir singing can be just as special from small ensembles, which can give especially intimate and creative performances.

This evening presents two ensembles whose common passion for music is expressed in very different ways, from the roots of jazz to folk music.

The six vocalists of Shades will take us on a journey through the world of vocal jazz, revisiting timeless themes with modern, sparkling takes. On the other hand, Les Mécanos, a group of ten singers and percussionists, will whip up a musical feast from French and Occitan oral tradition reinvented with boundless energy and creativity.

Touching on seriousness, emotion, rhythm, poetry and fantasy, this evening promises a unique musical experience where tradition and modernity meet.

Biographie(s)

Shades

Come see six artists from the French jazz scene breathe life into an (almost) century-old repertoire! Shades is a jazz band with four voices, carried by a guitar and a bass clarinet. Shades revives the legendary Broadway musicals of the 40s and 50s, as well as the songs that made the likes of Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald immortal. While exploring the grand musical avenues of New York, the musicians will also slip into some vocal improvisation. Walk down these streets with them, all the way to a 30s Harlem jazz club, where swing was at its apogee.

Les Mécanos

Les Mécanos are ten French singers bound by solid friendship who have been exploring the French and Occitan sung heritage since 2018. Their common desire is to reclaim regional repertoires from each singer’s musical universe. Thanks to the addition of modern instruments (bass drums and floor toms) and percussion, the vocal polyphony of traditional music opens up to contemporary music. The group’s pieces are inextricably linked to the popular origins of lyrics and melodies, using objects such as spanners, exhaust pipes or wheel rims. On stage, they open the doors to their workshop and perform songs of labour and struggle, love laments, political and religious satire, and dancing and drinking songs, all rearranged for ten voices and percussion.