A Silver Jubilee in a Golden Venue
At precisely 19:30 on 18 September, the dimmed lights of Paris’ legendary Sunside will lift to reveal Helmie Bellini, whose timbre critics once described as “silk threaded through brass” (Jazz Magazine). The occasion is her twenty-fifth anniversary recital, aptly titled “Il était une voix”, a phrase that plays on the French fairy-tale opening while foregrounding the centrality of vocal narrative in her craft. The choice of Sunside—at number 60, rue des Lombards—carries symbolism: it is the room where European jazz convergence meets, and where Bellini’s Franco-Congolese identity has long found an acoustically intimate refuge.
Tracing a Voice Across Two Continents
Born in Brazzaville and trained between Pointe-Noire, Dakar and Paris, Bellini’s trajectory mirrors the oscillations of post-colonial cultural diplomacy. Her self-produced debut album “Il était une voix” earned a coveted “Coup de Cœur” from Jazzman in 2011, signalling that mainstream gatekeepers were receptive to a repertoire blending Kongo lullabies with modal improvisation. In subsequent tours through Brussels, Oslo and Abidjan, she crafted what she often calls her “portable embassy”, a term that resonates with the Congolese government’s vision of exporting artistic excellence to complement economic outreach.
The Kongo Square Reverberations
Central to the anniversary programme is a suite named “Kongo Square”, evoking the New Orleans plaza where enslaved Africans once congregated to drum, dance and thereby incubate early jazz. By foregrounding this locus, Bellini not only honours ancestral resilience but also spotlights the rhythmic continuum linking Brazzaville to Louisiana. Musicologist Anne-Claire Mendy observes that Bellini’s polyrhythmic phrasing “allows Francophone Africa to reclaim intellectual authorship over a genre too often labelled purely American”. Such reclamation dovetails neatly with Brazzaville’s current cultural-promotion agenda articulated during the recent Biennale de la Culture.
Echoes from Marciac to Enghien
Bellini’s commitment to transmission is equally salient. Between 2012 and 2018 she served as the official voice of the Jazz in Marciac Off Festival, announcing young talents and moderating colloquia on improvisation ethics. Radio audiences on Enghien IDFM, meanwhile, tuned in to her 2017-2018 weekly column, where she dissected harmonic theory with the earnestness of a UNESCO educator. Those podcasts, later archived by the Institut Français, form part of a teaching kit now circulated in several Central African conservatories.
Toward a Radiant 2025 Milestone
The forthcoming Paris concert is neither retrospective nostalgia nor mere career footnote. Rather, it inaugurates a two-year cycle culminating in 2025 with a multi-city tour through Pointe-Noire, Kinshasa, Addis Ababa and Lisbon. Guitarist Ralph Lavital, whose own Antillean lineage interlaces with Bellini’s Kongo roots, will join on stage, crafting a dialogic repertoire that critics preview as “Caribbean counterpoint meeting Bantu call-and-response”. Fresh compositions unveiled at Sunside are expected to explore ecological stewardship of the Congo Basin, translating diplomatic talking points into sonic allegory.
Cultural Resonance and Soft Power
For Brazzaville’s envoys in Paris, the evening offers more than entertainment. In the corridor discussions that inevitably follow a memorable set, one hears the language of cultural soft power: attracting investment through visibility, nurturing diaspora cohesion, and framing the Republic as an incubator of cosmopolitan artistry. Ambassador Rodolphe Adada recently remarked that “artists like Bellini embody the republic’s aptitude for dialogue”. Whether in the velvet intimacy of Sunside or on digital platforms broadcasting the concert globally, Bellini’s quarter-century milestone underscores how vocal artistry can serve as an elegant vector for national narrative without lapsing into propaganda.
