Speakers in spotlight, part 1: Charles Gil
Charles Gil, the pioneer of Finnish-French jazz exchange and producer of improvised jazz music, moderates the discussion "Joined programming / touring routes: (how) can it work?" on Saturday at 12:30 in Crowne Plaza. His guest panelists are Huub Van Riel (Bimhuis) and Antoine Bos (AJC/AFIJMA).
Charles Gil (b. 1964) is a producer who coordinates and manages concert tours, specialising in innovative and adventurous jazz music. After his removal from his native France to Finland, Gil founded the agency Vapaat äänet (Free Voices / Free Sounds) in Helsinki in 1996, to promote the exchange of jazz music between France, Finland and the Baltic countries.
Vapaat äänet came quickly to stand for originality and high quality, and for almost twenty years the tours co-produced by Gil with the Finnish Jazz Federation have given a recurring lift to the Finnish jazz scene. Vapaat äänet has brought a great number of French artists on tour to Finland, Scandinavia and the Baltic Countries. The astonishing number of one thousand concerts was topped in 2012. In turn, the agency has exported Finnish jazz to France and other countries on the continent.
Gil acts also as a promoter for artists, having been particularly active with the various groups of saxophonist Mikko Innanen and guitarist Marc Ducret in recent years. As the coordinator of the French Nordic Jazz Transit and an active member in the AJC, an umbrella organisation of jazz festival production, Gil imports French jazz to the North also via these European channels. From 2003 to 2013, he was in charge of curating and producing the concert series Ultra Music at the Pori Jazz Festival.
In spring 2008 he was involved in the Finnish cultural season in France, “100 % Finlande”, as the producer of the jazz music programme. Apart from being a major force behind a number of jazz events, Gil acted as the European tour manager of Kaija Saariaho’s visualised concert “From the Grammar of Dreams” in 2001-2002. For his contribution to jazz music, Gil has been awarded with “Chevalier des Arts et Lettres” by the French Minister of Culture in 2010.
A native of Lyon, Gil started his career as the executive director of ARFI in 1987. Eight years in the service of the renowned association provided him with a field for experimentation and equipped him with an enduring love for music that often swims against the stream.
Photo: Maarit Kytöharju