A fierce talent on the local jazz scene, trumpeter Feven Kidane presents a very special set of original music inspired by the documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat… music which seeks to connect with the film and embody a learning spirit, remembrance, and decades-old shared grief.
Feven explains, “this film gives me mixed feelings. not mixed as in “i’m half in”, but mixed in the fact that the content itself is so emotional that my horn will have to work extra hard. mixed in the fact that its honesty hurts me. this film has me enraged, inspired, and activated.
it gives me hope for a united Blackness, but upset by constant thwarted plans for its achievement.”
For this occasion, Feven’s band consists of Quincy Mayes on keys, Bernie Arai on drums, and Milo Johnson on bass.
About Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat:
Artfully juxtaposing archival news reports, investigative interviews, and jazz, Johan Grimonprez’s essay film takes a fresh look at the notorious events in the wake of Congo’s independence in the early 1960s, culminating in the assassination of the country’s first democratically-elected leader, Patrice Lumumba. It’s a film about the deceit at the heart of colonialism, and about how jazz (Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach) figured into the politics of the Cold War and Black Liberation.
Presented in partnership with
Media Partner
Feven Kidane Quartet
Johan Grimonprez
Marie Daulne, In Koli Jean Bofane, Patrick Cruise O’Brien
Belgium/France/Netherlands
2024
In English, French, Russian and Dutch with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety
Screenwriter
Johan Grimonprez
Editor
Rik Chaubet
Also Playing
Cory Weeds Plays Sonny Rollins
Local sax legend Cory Weeds is joined by pianist Sharon Minemoto, bassist David Caballero and drummer Jesse Cahill to play music from Sonny Rollins' 1957 Riverside Records release The Sound Of Sonny, plus a screening of the acclaimed Saxophone Colossus doc.
Kit Eakle’s Jaz’n’theViolin String Band
Kit Eakle's 'Jaz'N'theViolin' String Band pay tribute to Louie Bluie, one of many fiddle players who gave birth to the new sounds of jazz and blues at the beginning of the twentieth century, followed by Terry Zwigoff's documentary portrait.
Blue Horse Opera
Rick Maddocks' visionary song cycle fuses indie, folk, classical music and dance, drawing inspiration from the climate emergency and the cinematic landscapes of spaghetti westerns. Followed by Sergio Sollima's The Big Gundown, starring Lee van Cleef.
George Garzone Live
Saxophone giant George Garzone celebrates free jazz with the help of the explosive Jerry Steinhilber Trio. Their set will be followed by a screening of Tom Surgal's documentary, Fire Music, featuring John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor.
Image: © Lee Tanner, The Jazz Image
