Words and photos by Tor Eigeland

MAGICAL is the best way I can describe the yearly August jazz festival in Marciac, a small French Gascon village of 1,200 inhabitants. Its magic is a combination of a multitude of good things wrapped in a cloak of rigorously uncompromising jazz that is everywhere, 'round the clock.

A large mediaeval square with arcades around it is the natural centre of the festival activities. Here, under a vast multicoloured, acoustically perfect awning is what seems like a huge jazz café-and-restaurant which in reality consists of several establishments.

The jazz is free all day long and nothing you may eat or drink is very expensive. A coffee or a beer will entitle you to a seat for hours. You may not even have to order anything.

In addition to being Three Musketeers d'Artagnan-land, this is foie gras, magret de canard, armagnac, Saint Mont and Madiran wine country. It would be a sin not to try these local delicacies. And within a couple of blocks' walk there are multiple ethnic food stalls ranging from African to Middle Eastern to Caribbean, Chinese and Vietnamese.

But we got away from the jazz here. The best of jazz. Since the festival's humble beginnings in 1978 such jazz greats as Bill Coleman, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Stephane-Grapelli, Gerry Mulligan and the Modern Jazz Quartet have wandered the streets of old Marciac and played to enthusiastic audiences.

And speaking of audiences, they are special in Marciac. You will find a rare mixture of sophisticated characters, some hippyish, from all over France, many with their children. Then there are the multiple local jazz enthusiasts, young and old, town folk and farmers wearing berets. Mingling happily are also American tourists as well as a few visitors from other parts of Europe.

Curiously, although Marciac is only some 70 kilometres north of the Spanish border, not all that far from Lourdes, visitors from the Iberian Peninsula seemingly have not yet discovered this jewel on their doorstep .

All around the main square and spilling into the narrow side streets are stalls selling everything from sausages to African drums, souvenirs to ice cream and jazz CDs, balloons, hats, wine, handicrafts, Indian clothes and Provençal cloth. Nobody is pushy, the place is gentle and no matter how many foreigners are here ¿ there is a very French feel to it all.

The last couple of years have featured stars such as the Jones Brothers, Milt Jackson, Johnny Griffin, Keith Jarrett, Toulouse-based saxophonist Guy Lafitte, the Abdullah Ibrahim Trio, Joshua Redman Quartet, Leroy Jones New Orleans Jazz Band, Nina Simone, the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Jean-Marie Machado, the Brown Sisters and, as every year, Wynton Marsalis, the trumpeter.

Wynton Marsalis is the second Patron Saint of Marciac! On the Place du Chevalier Antras there is even a statue of him with his horn. Every year he gives classes in the local high school which has a full-time 'for credit' jazz programme. Marsalis has even been known to get on the football or rugby field with the boys to kick the ball around.

Singer Nina Simone was known in Marciac not just for her husky jazz voice. She will be forever remembered for her outrageous demands and curious taste. On her 'essential wants' list: A stretch six-door limousine, a horse carriage, a specially arranged dressing room just behind the stage with fresh flowers cut the same morning (cultivated and wild flowers), a fridge, superior vodka and champagne of specified makes and vintages, cigars¿

The big name musicians mostly perform at night in what is called le chapiteau, a gigantic striped marquee (which Wynton Marsalis has renamed 'the tent') holding 6,000 fans. This is the only place where you have to pay for the pleasure of great music. The acoustics are superb, there are screens all around, and even if you are seated right smack in the rear of the tent you don't miss a thing.

Situated totally off the beaten track, how did a small village in rural France create a jazz festival that is rated one of the ten most important in Europe?

In 1978 a jazz-loving Gascon schoolmaster by the name of Jean-Louis Guilhaumon had a vision of a pure jazz festival which was shared by trumpeter Bill Coleman who owned a home nearby, and Toulouse sax-player Guy Lafitte. Starting modestly in what resembles a small round bullring for courses landaises (bullrunning competitions), the festival grew and grew and grew.

The organisation is admirably smooth, thanks in good part to a troop of 300 spirited local volunteers as well as the French authorities who have named this a site majeur ¿ which means it is very important indeed and is known as 'JIM' ¿ Jazz in Marciac.

Even off-season there are regular jazz concerts during the winter and Guilhaumon, at present mayor as well as schoolmaster, has created what is called Territoire du Jazz, a theme museum. The visitor passes from one epoch of jazz to another equipped with infra-red equipped headphones. Appropriate music plays at every exhibit.

The atmosphere in Marciac is truly unique, warm, and wonderful. British jazz writer and critic Don Waterhouse put it very well when he said: "Here are four essential qualities: respect, sincerity, spontaneity and simplicity which, added together, mean the human factor."

Reach Tor Eigeland at tor.eigelandwanadoo.fr