Meet Quintet – Vernissage de l'exposition Portrait(s) d'un festival, 40 ans de Jazz à Tourcoing

As part of the Tourcoing Jazz Festival, students from the Conservatoire's jazz department perform on the occasion of the exhibition opening.

Jacques Grossemy is a professional photographer specialising in portraiture since 1987, based in Roncq. He trained with major figures in photography such as Christian Chamourat, Andréa Westelynck, Paolo Roversi, Fernande Kuypers...

Alongside this, he has a passion for music, and more specifically jazz ever since discovering Miles Davis. He is also an amateur musician and hosted the show "Jazz Toxique" on Radio Boomerang in Roubaix from 1986 to 2006.

In 1989, he discovered the TJF and was entrusted with the role of official festival photographer. Since then, he has combined his two passions, music and photography, travelling around concert halls and festivals to capture over the years the faces of musicians, mostly on film.

His work has been published in specialist press, on CD covers and booklets, as well as in concert programmes. He has been present at almost every edition of the festival since its beginnings.

Through his lens, the portrait becomes a suspended moment: expressions, light and space compose images in which one can sense the intensity of the musical performance. Whether it is a gaze searching for the blue note or a deeply felt gesture, he captures the power of the moment.

From a selection drawn from over 3,700 musicians catalogued in his photographic archive, in both colour and black and white, he has put together a true visual memory, paying tribute to the female and male musicians who have brought these 40 years of Jazz à Tourcoing to life!

Exhibition produced in partnership with the Hélio association - Centre de promotion et de création photographique, and the Tourcoing media library network.

Opening – Meet Quintet Saturday 10 October – 11:00 As part of the Tourcoing Jazz Festival, students from the Conservatoire's jazz department perform on the occasion of the opening of the photographic exhibition "Portrait(s) d’un festival – 40 ans de Jazz à Tourcoing".

An encounter between live music and photographic memory