French saxophonist Samy Thiébault to perform in Tanzania

Thiébault, who teaches saxophone and improvised music at the Conservatoire de Choisy Le Roi in France, will conduct a two-day workshop starting on Wednesday 24 February at the local Alliance Française with local musicians from the Muda Africa music school.

On Thursday evening the Muda Africa musicians are scheduled to open with their original blend of compositions, before Samy and his trio - also including Philippe Soiraton on drums and Yoni Zelnikon only double bass - take to the stage. The visiting jazz trio is also expected to perform at the French Ambassador's residence while in Dar Es Salaam.

Born in Ivory Coast to parents who were teachers, Samy obtained a Master's degree in 2001. His debut album, Blues For Nel, was released in 2004. It earned him a resounding public and critical success. In June 2007, he presented his second album,Gaya Scienza, with a quintet. Together with his band Samy has amassed a large audience and receives significant media support.

The period from 2014 to 2015 represented a major turning point in the career of this artist as he explored the dancing discourse between trance and spiritual message, with the release of his album A Feast of Friends. Samy has also developed collaborative projects with El Sistema in Venezuela, where he was in residence in 2014.

In 2016 Samy has been working on a new project, Wild Songs, a substantive work on new compositions for his quartet, centered on jazz. Samy is working on this project in collaboration of the Espace Carpeaux in Courbevoie in Paris, where the quartet will be in residence throughout the year. The project is expected to be ready in October. In February this year he performed with his quartet in Algeria. In April this year he returns to African soil with his quartet for gigs in Pointe-Noire and Kinshasa in Central Africa.