Juan Jazz 2012 started last night with Norah Jones headlining and Adam Cohen opening proceedings.
I have long hankered after getting along to the Juan Les Pins festival since I first became aware of it thanks to some research I was doing in the area for a documentary with the BBC many moons ago.
Norah Jones in concert seemed like the perfect occasion to enjoy some chilled out music by the sea set amidst the Mediterranean pines after which Juan takes its name.
First up was Adam Cohen who was pretty good and was backed by a very impressive American cello playing backing vocalist and a guitarist/drummer. Despite the rather disturbing presence of a Mistral wind coming in off the sea, which allowed the audience to enjoy the performance of the kite surfer in the background, as well as the waves crashing on the beach as the sun set. Adam and the band rocked along nicely. They finished off with a beautiful song, Mary Ann, from the repertoire of his illustrious father Leonard Cohen.
Norah Jones played many songs from her new album Little Broken Hearts and finished up with plenty of crowd pleasers from her past hits. The massive fireworks display behind the stage on the other side of the bay (the start of the Bastille day celebrations) couldn’t have been better timed.
Great night, great place (I make it my second best concert venue in France after Nimes arena). Rent a holiday villa in Juan les Pins and get along to one of the best Jazz festivals in Europe. We have a wide range of high quality vacation rentals in France where you can find lots of excellent music performed during the summer.
The Jazz festival takes place each year on the sea front of Juan Les Pins, if you would like details of the next one just send us an email or call using our freephone telephone service.