Islander supplies Jèrriais twist for jazz collaboration

JERSEY’S traditional language has been blended with the sound of samba in a unique collaboration between a Jersey songwriter, a 95-year-old jazz composer and a UK music stalwart.

Kit Ashton, lead singer of Badlabecques, supplied lyrics and vocals in Jèrriais for J’êprouvêmes, a song composed by Mark Edwards, a Brighton-based musician who has worked with artists including Paul Weller, Katie Melua and Aztec Camera.

Mr Edwards’ work is described as a “jazz-oriented reimagining” of the work of veteran composer David Forman (95), who has been a stalwart of the UK jazz scene for decades.

The song has been released on YouTube and will feature in a one-off concert at London’s renowned 606 Club next week.

As a long-standing campaigner for keeping Jèrriais alive and revitalising the Island’s traditional Norman tongue, Dr Ashton said he had been honoured to take part in the project.

“Bossa nova is most associated with Brazilian Portuguese in its original form, but as Jèrriais is also a Latin-based Romance language it works really well,” he said. “The vibe of the song has that quintessential bossa nova emotion, so I came up with the theme of a couple trying hard not to fall in love, for fear of heartbreak, but finding it impossible to resist in the end.”

Dr Ashton’s work to promote Jèrriais has included completing a PhD in ethnomusicology from Goldsmiths College in London, with a focus on how music can help support endangered languages.

Along with his Badlabecques’ bandmates, Dr Ashton will be performing at the Corn Riots Festival in St Helier on Saturday 19 September. The live session is at 2.30pm, while later the same afternoon Dr Ashton will give a lecture-recital at the Victoria Tavern as part of the Jersey Festival of Words.

J’êprouvêmes is available to listen to online via youtube.com/watch?v=FasncnMn7f4

Tickets for the recital are available via jerseyfestivalofwords.org