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BOFFERDING STAGE • CARREAU DE LA MINE, LASAUVAGE

FANTASTIC NEGRITO

Fantastic Negrito is the incarnation of a musician who is reborn after going through a lot of awful shit. In fact, the name Fantastic Negrito represents his third rebirth, literally coming back from death this time. The narrative on this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound. Songs born from a long hard life channeled through black roots music. Slide guitar, drums, piano. Urgent, desperate, edgy. Fantastic Negrito is the story of a man who struggled to “make it”, who “got it”, who lost it all, and somehow managed to find his way back. These are singular songs by a true musician who writes and produces his own work. His songs are his fuel as he continues on the third comeback of his life, at a time when our world is in upheaval.

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BOFFERDING STAGE • CARREAU DE LA MINE, LASAUVAGE

DEVON ALLMAN PROJECT

Devon Allman’s life reads like that of the quintessential American troubadour. Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, and producer spent his early years dividing time between the Lone Star State, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri. Raised by his mother, Devon began playing music as a youth. He was 16 when he first met his father, Gregg.

Gregg invited Devon on the road with The Allman Brothers Band, during the group’s Dreamstour in the summer of 1989, where he first met ABB progeny, Berry Duane Oakley and Duane Betts. On many occasions, Devon would sit-in with the Brothers, often performing “Midnight Rider” alongside his father. Included among the many musical heavyweights Devon would join onstage throughout his career are Les Paul, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Gibbons, Gov’t Mule, Blackberry Smoke, and Lukas Nelson.

He founded Devon Allman’s Honeytribe in 1999, recording two albums and touring the world intermittently over the next decade. In 2011, Devon paired with Cyril Neville to form Royal Southern Brotherhood. The supergroup released a trio of albums, won a Blues music award, and culminated their world tour with an appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Concurrently, Devon was cultivating a prolific solo career, issuing Turquoise in 2013 and Ragged & Dirty(2014), garnering widespread critical acclaim as well as top Billboard positions, including #1 on the Blues chart for 2016’s Ride or Die.

In 2017, Devon assembled the Devon Allman Project, commencing a 2018-19 world tour with Duane Betts as a special guest. Following that successful run, he and Betts announced the formation of the Allman Betts Band, reuniting with Oakley and recording their debut album at the famed Muscle Shoals studio.

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BOFFERDING STAGE • CARREAU DE LA MINE, LASAUVAGE

BEN POOLE

If ever a simple Youtube video told you everything you needed to know about a particular up-and coming-artist it is Ben Poole’s unforgettable live rendition of the classic Temptations track “I Know I’m losing You.”

Poole’s version announces its sinister mission with a searing riff that cuts as deep as Dennis Edwards’ icy vocals from the original. This is not a pleasant little love song, not a gentle ode to undying devotion. It is a song that wants to cause pain. And in the masterful hands of Ben Poole, a Gibson Les Paul might as well be a meat cleaver held against your jugular.

About four minutes in, there’s a breakdown, a slower pound of drums, a steady bass figure looming in the background, celestial keyboards brightening adding light to the mood. But don’t be fooled. It’s only a brief respite, a chance to catch your breath before the menace begins anew.

Then Poole launches back into the assault, screaming, screeching, howling with his guitar in a way that reminds any blues fan of the very best of those who have ever played the instrument.

That’s all the introduction to Ben Poole that you need. And that’s the reason that any fan of the blues who sleeps on this young talent is in danger of missing out big.

Poole’s background is surprisingly low-key for a man who wields such a threatening guitar. Born and bred in the UK, this young fretboard wizard got an early start at dazzling the blues world. By the age of twenty-two he had already boasted a resume that listed such names as Gary Moore, Jeff Beck and John Mayall as either admirers or collaborators. Poole seems poised for greatness.

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SALES-LENTZ STAGE • HALL DES TRAINS, FOND-DE-GRAS

GAËLLE
BUSWEL

Gaëlle Buswel, is a unique artist who leaves no one indifferent. Her exceptional voice will move you as it reaches straight for your soul. Her generosity of spirit, her spontaneity and her dazzling smile are irresistible. A prodigious performer, she has already more than 500 concerts across Europe under her belt as well as 2 North American tours.

In listening to her music, it is not surprising to learn that right from the very start this artist was drawn to folk rock and blues rock sung by husky-voiced singers. When you have the music of Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker and Queen all playing in the nursery, with Neil Young and Janis Joplin for your childhood lullabies, you are bound to be drawn towards this fantastic mixture of complementary musical influences. As a teenager, she immersed herself completely in blues music, delving into the albums of Bonnie Raitt and Jonny Lang.

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SALES-LENTZ STAGE • HALL DES TRAINS, FOND-DE-GRAS

DEE DEE
BRIDGEWATER

Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, Grammy and Tony Award-winning Jazz giant Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics.

Bridgewater’s career has always bridged musical genres. She earned her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Louis Big Band, and throughout the 70’s she performed with such jazz notables as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. After a foray into the pop world during the 1980s, she relocated to Paris and began to turn her attention back to Jazz. Bridgewater began self-producing with her 1993 album Keeping Tradition (Polydor/Verve) and created DDB records in 2006 when she signed with the Universal Music Group as a producer (Bridgewater produces all of her own CDs). Releasing a series of critically-acclaimed CD’s, including her wildly successful double Grammy Award-winning tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Dear Ella and the more recent Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee, which won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

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