Mama Jaz is above all a human adventure in musical culture. By launching this project, Gavin Poonoosamy, founder of the festival, wanted to create human connection. This festival is the only one dedicated to jazz in the Southern Hemisphere. Since 2016, the year of the first edition, a host of artists have performed to highlight music style.
How did this begin? Gavin Poonoosamy explains that he wanted to honor the creative genius of Mauritian artists, develop audiences around creative music and contribute to a healthier Mauritian society. “It happened very naturally after a conversation with Jerry Leonide, with whom we interact a lot, in December 2015. Afterwards, gradually, things have evolved into what the event is today. From concerts with an audience of 200 people, we welcomed 5,000 people in 2016 with a national reach for more than 500,000 people and an international following now counting 70 countries in 2021, with in addition a progressive and diverse program. We are happy, ”explains Gavin Poonoosamy.
He adds: "The festival website, mamajaz.org, also plays a big role as there is an audio library for free online listening."
Successful editions
At the first festival, 42 artists performed on different stages across the island for more than 70 hours of music over a week. With great success, the organizers worked extra hard and saw things even bigger during the 2017 edition. Thus, various activities were organized throughout the month of April - workshops open to the public, concerts which brought together local and international artists from across the country. The concerts were also broadcast on national television channels.
Having become an event awaited by the public, the festival is attracting more and more followers. In 2018, the organizers are launching a series of podcasts, called Nepetalakton, which pays homage to jazz and its influences on other styles of music. The inaugural episode was played on April 30, and Canadian DJ Lexis was on the decks for hours of house music.
The following year, four concerts were held on the four Sundays of the month. So there was an opening concert that takes us internationally, A Million O'Clock, with artists from South Africa and Switzerland. The combo consists of Rico Baumann (drums), Shane Cooper (double bass), Thandi Ntuli (piano, keyboards and vocals), and Benedikt Reising (saxophone and bass clarinet). Musicians from the United States and South Korea were also on stage that year. Without forgetting, the Mauritian and Reunionese artists.
But in 2020, the Covid-19 made its appearance, upsetting the whole program. Moreover, the artistic community is one of the most affected by the pandemic. Unable to perform on stage during periods of confinement, they must find other solutions to share their art. Gavin Poonoosamy and his team had to rethink the festival. No concerts on stage, local artists performed on social networks, Facebook, Instagram and the videos also posted on YouTube. Paris-based DJ Electrocaïne was on the decks for the show.
Two new items presented in 2020. First, an audio library to freely listen to music on mamajaz.org and the “Minit mazik” campaign.
2021: #Wewillshine #NouPouTraverse #NousRayonnons
This year, there are no outdoor activities or concerts; the country being under lockdown. The activities take place on social networks. The chosen theme is “We will shine”, “Nou Pou Traverse” in Creole and “Nous Rayonnons” in French.
“The 6th edition of the festival, like the 5th, has been dematerialized to continue its missions throughout the month of April: 19 flagship actions deployed between national television, radio waves and the Internet relating to the Retrospektiv, Open Music Theory chapters Space and Konversasion, not to mention the Minit Mazik (magical minutes) series or the collaboration with Filoumoris.com on social networks, ”says the founder.
Briefly, Retrospektiv is an enhancement of the audiovisual or audio archives of the festival; Open Music Theory Space is a weekly interactive masterclass live stream format hosted by Jerry Leonide; Konversasion is a weekly roundtable format with, in the center, a topic of general interest and, around, nice humans having a strong connection with, as much as knowledge of, the subject.
The festival ends this Friday, April 30 with the worldwide celebrations of International Jazz Day. As Mama Jaz is the official organizing partner of the global event with UNESCO and the Herbie Hancock Institute for Jazz, the organizers are keen to encourage and stimulate this celebration. "We also hold two flagship actions this year, beyond the magical minutes that will intensify, in the form of a podcast of our Nepetalakton series, produced for the festival by Electrocaine, and the publication of a track by the Samuel Laval Quartet. Two surprises to discover on Facebook with us the same day or on mamajaz.org later on.”
