Egyptian

JUAN-LES-PINS: “Singing where so many great musicians have played is exhilarating”: Paul Anka, the creator of “My Way”, waited until he was 80 to finally perform at Jazz à Juan (Alpes- Maritimes) where George Benson, Herbie Hancock and Gilberto Gil are also programmed.

“I have a very long relationship with France and the French and their music. Finally coming to Juan-les-Pins will be an intense moment, ”said the North American star in an interview from Los Angeles.

“I know a lot of festivals around the world. Juan is certainly in the top 3”, added the author of “Diana” or “Destiny” who, in 1969, adapted “As usual” by Claude François, then taken over by Frank Sinatra.

This native of Ottawa (Canada) who lived nearby, in Italy, in the 1950s, but “never came to Juan, even as a spectator”, will in fact succeed on July 8 in the Pinède Gould to monsters such as Charles Migus, Miles Davis or Ray Charles.

“Close to Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Bécaud and Johnny Hallyday” and to Michel Legrand, “one of the greatest authors”, but also to Michel Colombier, composer and arranger (of Gainsbourg or Polnareff) “with whom I worked on several albums”, Paul Anka, who will only choose his repertoire “one week before”, however has a small idea of ​​what he wishes to reserve for the public.

“My way”

“I’m going to sing classics, ‘My Way’ of course, jazz, as well as a tribute to Sammy Davis Junior, dear to the French public, and some of the first successes that allowed me to come to France at a very young age. , like ‘Diana’ and ‘Destiny’,” added the Canadian who “spoke French at home” with his French-speaking parents born in Lebanon and Syria.

Busier than ever, Paul Anka, who still says he is “in love” with the films of Claude Chabrol and Roger Vadim, “is finishing a new album, a television show which will be broadcast in four or five months and the pre-production of a documentary about my life that a production company is going to make”.

A key figure in jazz, initiated by Wes Montgomery, guitarist of Miles Davis in 1967 on the album “Miles in the Sky”, George Benson for his part makes a tenth visit to Jazz à Juan on July 6, since his first appearance in 1964 .

Stakhanovist of the scene with a hundred concerts a year, the author of the mythical “Give Me the Night”, remains on a tribute album to two recent deceased, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, published in 2019.

Now 79, the guitarist from Pittsburgh will have as usual in his dressing room, according to a close source, roast beef, ham and watermelon, cherry and cranberry juice but also “a bottle of the highest quality brut rosé champagne”.

For its 61st edition, the Antibes Juan-les-Pins festival, created in 1960 in homage to a famous Antibes by adoption, Sidney Bechet, is resolutely jazz with Rhoda Scott (July 8), Diana Krall (July 17 ) or even Herbie Hancock (18th) but is also expanding its range with American soul singer John Legend (10th) and Irishman Van Morrison (13th July).