Fellow blogger Domani Dave may only post once or twice a month but when he does it’s always of great interest. His only post – unless one suddenly appears today – for June introduced me to a jazz performer previously unknown (to me at least): Célia Kameni. Her rendition of I’m Through with Love sent me in search of other videos of her work.
Since we haven’t had our dose of jazz in over a year – how I miss those Thursday night sessions at Island Jazz – I thought I’d OD a bit on this remarkable singer who seems comfortable in quite a few genres.
I can’t find a biography for Célia but her Facebook page indicates that she is based in Lyon. She appears with several groups including The Amazing Keystone Big Band, the Alfio Origlio Quartet, and Bigre – all well-known performers on the European Jazz scene.
In what little I’ve been able to find out so far she graduated from the conservatory in Lyon in 2017-18 and her career has taken off since then. She professes a great love for the divine Ella and did one cover album of Ella’s standards.
According to one website her range of styles covers classic jazz, blues, reggae, swing, soul, and rock. Quite a variety! It doesn’t include gospel but this next number is pure simple revival.
Thanks Dave – I’m planning to explore more of Célia’s work and perhaps find out a litte bit more about her.
The word for June 30th is:
Gospel /ˈɡäspəl/: [noun]
1. The record of Jesus’ life and teaching in the first four books of the New Testament.
2.1 The teaching or revelation of Christ.
2.2 A thing that is absolutely true.
2.3 A set of principles or beliefs.
3. A fervent style of black American evangelical religious singing, developed from spirituals sung in Southern Baptist and Pentecostal Churches.
Old English gōdspel, from gōd ‘good’ + spel ‘news, a story’, translating ecclesiastical Latin bona annuntiatio or bonus nuntius, used to gloss ecclesiastical Latin evangelium, from Greek euangelion ‘good news’; after the vowel was shortened in Old English, the first syllable was mistaken for god ‘God’.
My mind goes back to those Sunday night gospel services that Eleanor and Frank Pounder would take our Presbyterian youth group to in the worst section of Queen Street in Toronto. They taught me a few things including a love for gospel music.
Willy Or Won't He 