Xpress2Brest
A documentary by Kate Thompson‐Gorry
Starring: Soweto Kinch and Napoleon Solo Maddox
Cinematography : Stéphane Vaillant
Sound : Cyrille de Canson
Editing and graphics : Louis Jean Gorry
Executive Production : Samuel Thiebaut / Oléo films
Producer / Broadcaster : Mezzo and Arteweb
© Oléo films / Mezzo / Arte web / 2011
“A train journey becomes an invitation to explore common musical ground and dream up the future to hip-hop. An explosive duo that will please Jazz aficionados and hip-hop fans alike. Colourful interviews, elegant illustrations and concerts offer a new insiders insight into the ever fluctuant borders between jazz and hip-hop accompanying the English saxophonist Soweto Kinch and the American hip-hop artist Napoleon Maddox that form a compelling and complementary duo.”
Xpress 2 Brest – Excerpts
Xpress 2 Brest ‐ Tha Synopsis
“Had I been born twenty years later, I’d be jamming hip-hop” Archie Shepp
An explosive and interactive encounter between an English saxophonist from Birmingham and an American from Cincinnati whose common weapon is jazz and common ammunition: chiselled lyrics for hyper political hip-hop.
Soweto Kinch, saxophonist extraordinaire, has become somewhat of a landmark for the English hip-hop scene. Napoleon Maddox, beat boxer and hip-hop author pioneer, multiplies collaborations with prestigious jazz performers. For both of them, jazz and hip-hop both stem from the same energy, based on freedom of expression and resistance to cultural and political domination.
These spearheads of the contempary black music movement collided in Brest for the Atlantique Jazz Festival for our greatest pleasure, offering us politically engaged lyrics on music combining the best of jazz and hip hop.
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MC to the hip-hop band ISWHAT?! Napoleon is a great artisan of words; that he twines articulately. His flow surprises as much as the free-jazz productions that accompany it. Napoleon Maddox is a great Monsieur who accompanies great artists. From La Canaille to Public Enemy, the Emeperor of Cincinnati’s world is multilayered and unique.
www.sourdoreille.net/napoleon-maddox-en-cinq-collaborations/
Award winning alto-saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians in both the British jazz and hip hop scenes. Undoubtedly, one of the few artists in either genre with a degree in Modern History from Oxford University he has amassed an impressive list of accolades and awards on both sides of the Atlantic – including a Mercury Music Prize nomination, two UMA Awards and a MOBO for best Jazz Act in 2003. In October 2007, he won his second MOBO Award, at the O2 Arena, London where he was announced as the winner in the Best Jazz Act category- fending off stiff competition from the likes of Wynton Marsalis.