Get ready for a night to remember, as the international sensation that is the band, “Ginkgoa”, prepares to light up the night and start your weekend off right!
Producing French songs with an American style, and American songs with the touch of ‘Old-World’ France, these artisans masterfully blend melody and harmony in ways that defy old conventions, bridging time and space for a sense of new world class: French/American Pop with the Swing of old New York married to its newer incarnation of EDM. It is a style that can best be described as bringing that New York cool on a trip to the French countryside. They call it ElectroSwing, while others call it Chason Jazz, or just plain excellence.
The duo is actively building an impressive international career with a tour of over 200 dates and will be backed on stage by the drummer Grégory D’Addario, the bassist Anne-Colombe Martin and the clarinetist, keyboardist Corentin Giniaux. You can catch this phenomenon at the Grand Performances’ Summerfest, Friday, July 22nd.
I am so excited to return to my country and play in downtown LA with my French group! It’s an amazing feeling to share my love for French culture with America, and feel lots of love in return. I hope to come back for many more concerts in California and across the US! – Nicole Rochelle
It all began when Nicolle Rochelle an American singer, dancer, and author, and Antoine Chatenet, a French composer and producer, met by chance in a Parisian night club. Having previously acquainted herself with Chatenet’s work online, sparks flew upon sight and the world of music has never been the same.
As a hybrid genre between Caro Emerald and Caravan Palace, they only have one idea in mind: to make generations of people dance, sway, and sing along to melodies that stay in your head long after Ginkgoa has left the building and as long as the Ginkgo, their tree totem namesake, continues to survive.
Downtown Weekly’s Ronnie Simon had the immense pleasure of interviewing the group earlier this month:
Officially discovered in the well-known French festival “Les Francofolies” where they won the prize for “Favorite Group” of the festival, the duo went on to play approximately 140 dates in France, Switzerland, and the USA, being offered numerous additional awards along the way.
Why the Grand Performances Summerfest in LA?
“We had the chance to play at Global Fest in January in NYC and since then we have received many many proposals for festivals and venues around the world… The Grand Performances Summerfest was one of these and it’s a real honor for us to play there.”
When is the next album?
“The next album, which will actually be the first one (for now we’ve just released [an] EP), will be released in January 2017.”
What does your music say about life?
“Our music makes people dance and often tells a story from a specific perspective about different situations in life, like relationship[s] or wanting to express oneself, or the joys of my own story when I moved from New York to Paris…”
Grand Performances’ mission is to inspire community, celebrate diversity, and unite Los Angeles through free access to global performing arts.
Grand Performances, 350 South Grand Avenue, Suite A-4, Los Angeles, CA 90071
