Art'n Jazz Festival

A festival born from a friendship between music and painting

The Art'n Jazz Festival is a unique adventure born from a strong human and artistic encounter: that of Séverine Guilbard, a jazzy singer, oboist, and pianist, and Joëlle Kem Lika, an internationally renowned contemporary painter. United by a friendship of over twenty years and a shared passion for jazz, they have conceived a festival that transcends the boundaries between artistic disciplines, placing live music and visual arts side by side in the heart of the tiny village of Sainte-Vertu in the Yonne department.

The event is driven by the association Festiv'In, co-founded by Séverine Guilbard, Joëlle Kem Lika, and Edward Descamps, who is responsible for communication and logistics. This founding core has built a true cultural hub in Sainte-Vertu around the Joëlle Kem Lika Contemporary Art Center, whose spaces at 44 and 48 Grande Rue host exhibitions, concerts, and workshops throughout the year, with a peak in activity during the annual festival.

Jazz, blues, and gypsy jazz in art galleries

The heart of the festival consists of two to three concerts featuring artists from the national and international scene. The styles covered span a wide spectrum of jazz and its neighboring genres: vocal jazz, gypsy jazz in the tradition of Django Reinhardt, electric and acoustic blues, and French songs reinterpreted with a jazz flavor. This stylistic diversity reflects Séverine Guilbard's open vision, as she refuses to confine music to a single genre.

Among the groups that have marked the festival's history, Gaïga Swing stands out, a gypsy jazz quintet blending three guitarists and singers from the Sinti Corsellis family (Noël, Franck, and Biboune) with two 'gadje' musicians, Vincent Griveau on clarinet and Walter Liperi on double bass — a musical offering that transports the audience into the world of caravans and campfires dear to Django. The bluesman Youssef Remadna (vocals and harmonica) accompanied by Stan Noubard Pacha on guitar has also marked the festival evenings with powerful and authentic blues. Séverine Guilbard herself regularly performs in duos or trios, revisiting the repertoire of Jeanne Moreau and great French female singers through an intimate jazz lens.

Joëlle Kem Lika's contemporary art: the other face of the festival

What distinguishes the Art'n Jazz Festival from most regional music events is the full integration of visual arts into the programming. Joëlle Kem Lika, whose works are present in private collections and exhibited in galleries in Miami, New York, Houston, Shanghai, Beijing, London, and Berlin, transforms her galleries on Grande Rue into exhibition spaces open to the public for the entire duration of the festival.

Each edition is associated with a thematic exhibition by the artist — such as the exhibition Dreamtime in 2017, a pictorial exploration of the dreamtime in Australian Aboriginal cultures — and features live painting performances during the concerts. Jazz music improvises with brushstrokes and vice versa: one inspires the other, in real-time, before the audience. This osmosis between image and sound is the hallmark of Art'n Jazz, giving it an irreplaceable identity in the Burgundian festival landscape.

Vocal workshops and jam sessions: the participatory festival

The Art'n Jazz Festival is also a space for training and sharing. Jazz and blues singing masterclasses are offered during the festival weekend, allowing amateurs to progress with professional musicians. Circle song sessions — an improvised choral practice popularized by Bobby McFerrin — invite non-singing audiences to experience the joy of collective voice. Open jam sessions on the terrace extend the concerts late into the night, allowing musicians in the audience to take the stage and interact with the invited artists.

Throughout the year, Festiv'In extends the festival spirit with monthly vocal walks (starting at 2:30 PM from La Terrasse du 44), open piano sessions on Saturday evenings in July and August from 6 PM to 7 PM, and occasional concerts. In December, an end-of-year musical evening brings together guest artists and festival regulars in the cozy atmosphere of the terrace at 44.

Sainte-Vertu, a timeless Burgundian setting

The geographical setting of the festival contributes to its special magic. Sainte-Vertu is a village of about a hundred inhabitants nestled in a bend of the Serein river, which winds between Chablis and Noyers-sur-Serein before joining the Yonne. Its legendary name comes from Saint Médard who, around the year 500, is said to have praised the "holy virtues" of the inhabitants during an evangelizing visit.

The village retains a remarkable architectural unity: the Saint-Pierre church (12th-16th century) with its massive buttressed bell tower, its stone statues representing the Virgin and Child, Saint Peter, and Saint James, recalls the historical passage of pilgrims to Vézelay. The old mill on the banks of the Serein, the dovecote, and the stone bridge complete the picture of an authentic Burgundian village, untouched by modernity and mass tourism.

It is in this preserved setting, between golden stone walls and the gentle Serein valley, that Festiv'In has chosen to host its festival. La Terrasse du 44, an outdoor convivial space in the heart of Joëlle Kem Lika's galleries, is the epicenter of the festival: evening concerts, a bar, and conversations between artists and spectators mingle in a unique atmosphere that only small rural festivals can create.

A festival rooted in the Tonnerrois territory

The Art'n Jazz Festival is part of the cultural dynamic of the Tonnerrois, a region between Auxerrois and Châtillonnais that is home to some of Burgundy's most beautiful villages — Noyers-sur-Serein, Époisses, Ancy-le-Franc — and renowned vineyards. The Festiv'In association maintains ties with local cultural and tourism stakeholders, helping to promote Sainte-Vertu and the Tonnerrois region far beyond their borders.

For Séverine Guilbard, the goal goes beyond mere entertainment: it is about democratizing jazz and contemporary arts in a rural area, showing that great music and living art can coexist happily far from the large Parisian venues, in the intimacy of a village where everyone eventually gets to know each other after a few hours of the festival.