Two weeks in July heralded the 51st edition of the International Jazz a Juan, one of Europe’s coolest jazz festivals, held beachside in Antibes Juan-les-Pins in the south of France. It was here, with the glittering Mediteranian Sea as its backdrop, that DiGiCo’s SD Ten console made the music of such greats as Herbie Hancock, BB King and Santana sound just that little bit sweeter.
Jazz a Juan is the longest running jazz festival in Europe and is organised by Jean-René Palacio, Artistic Director of the Société des Bains de Mer (SBM), based in the principality of Monaco – also the organiser of the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival, which DiGiCo has sponsored for the past four years.
Palacio’s desire to produce not only the best, but something a little different, stretches across every event he organises, both in terms of artistic line up and all aspects of production. In all respects he achieves his aim.
As with Monte-Carlo, his audio supplier of choice is French sales and rental company Arpege Son Lumière, whose co-owner, Philippe Barguirdjian, knows exactly what Palacio requires. This year, along with Front of House engineer Alain Courieux, Barguirdjian made the decision to utilise DiGiCo SD Tens at both the FOH and monitor positions.
“Jazz a Juan is one of the oldest and best jazz festivals there is, so we wanted to use one of the best consoles on the market,” says Courieux, who is also Jean Michel Jarre’s long-time Front of House engineer. “I’ve been using DiGiCo consoles for the past seven or eight years. I use an SD7 when I’m working with Jean Michel because it sounds fantastic – Jean Michel is so happy with the sound quality that he also has one in his studio – and it’s the only console I know of where I can use over 180 channels.
“This experience with the SD7 meant that we were sure the SD Ten would have exactly what we need for Jazz a Juan.”
With the festival’s insistence that all visiting engineers use the equipment provided by Arpege, Barguirdjian and Courieux had to be absolutely sure their decision was the right one.
“We don’t have any need for racks, as everything is done within the console itself, which makes life simpler,” continues Courier. “All the visiting engineers were happy with the way the SD Ten works, and with the plugins, etc. Even those that were a bit nervous because they hadn’t used a DiGiCo before really liked it because it’s so easy to use and the sound is so clear.”
Courieux smiles. “With the beautiful weather, the beach and an SD Ten in front of them, they feel like they’re on holiday.”
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