“Imagine” – G.J-C

20:30. Friday 18th. Conservatoire Francois Mitterand. The lights dim out…

Few notes from a piano, drums fill in, followed by the bass.. Ernest Wiehe playing the sax and Philipe Thomas on trumpet. The crowd is subjugated. 20:45 enters Gina Jean-Charles. The little young lady shyly walks on stage and greets the crowd. A roar of applause, she blushes…

C’est une chanson qui nous ressemble.
Toi, tu m’aimais et je t’aimais
Et nous vivions tous deux ensemble,
Toi qui m’aimais, moi qui t’aimais.
Mais la vie sépare ceux qui s’aiment,
Tout doucement, sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable
Les pas des amants désunis.
“Les feuilles mortes” ..

it was a great night of Jazz. Blessed with a magnificent hoarse and jazzy voice, Gina has a bright future ahead. Her simplicity and contained shyness make her even more charming. If Eric Triton has raised creole Blues to summits, Gina and Ernest’s quintet add unequaled warmth and colour to the mauritian Jazz painting. Close your eyes and hear her sing “cry me a river” and you’d think no less of her than a singer of the likes of Ella Fitzgerald.

Bravo!