French guitarist Gérard Pansanel’s music always spreads a Mediterranean flair, a lightness paired with humour and wit. No matter what the constellation—be it on “Montpellier”, his album with Pascale Comelade, or on the album with cover versions of Beatles songs which he recorded with Antonello Salis, or in a larger ensemble with “Orchestra Frizzante”. The autodidact and declared Beatles fan, born 1952, got his final gloss from Pat Martino and Robben Ford in the early 80ies during a longer stay in the USA. Since then, he has shared the stage and studio both as a musician and producer with many different famous artists: Don Cherry, Lester Bowie, John Abercrombie, Dino Saluzzi, Michel Portal and Archie Shepp, and also Neneh Cherry, Phil Manzanera and Steve Hillage. Since 1984, Pansanel has released ten albums as a leader and written a soundtrack for Eric Rohmer (“Autumn Tale”). From his many projects, Pansanel chose the originally lined up trio Timeless for ‘Enjoy Jazz, which invokes memories of similar trios with Wes Montgomery and John Abercrombie. Members of the trio include the young organist Rémi Ploton and drummer Joël Allouche, who, like Pansanel, was born in Montpellier. Montpellier and Heidelberg have been town twins for 55 years. The concert will be performed at the Montpellier-Haus which was established in 1986.
