Kenavo! Tri Yann bids farewell to fifty years on the stage during a final concert organized in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), Saturday September 11. The end of an era for a group of exceptional longevity which has given Breton music a large audience.
Initially scheduled for March 28, 2020, and already full for months, this last concert, which is to be held in front of an audience of two thousand fans at the Cité des Congrès in Nantes, has been repeatedly postponed due to the health crisis.
“We end with joy and a kind of sharing”
During this final stage performance, the Trois Jean (who are actually eight on stage) have planned to invite former members of the group and friends, such as singer Bleunwenn and her group Vindotalé. “We end with joy and a kind of sharing”, confides to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Jean Chocun, 72, one of the founding members, while acknowledging that they will have “Also wet eyes. ” The musician that can be heard on the guitar, banjo or mandolin adds:
“I’m afraid to think about the last notes we’re going to play. It will be difficult, of course. When we see people crying in front of us, it pulls us along. “
It was he who convinced his cronies Jean-Paul Corbineau, 73, and Jean-Louis Jossic, 74, that it was time to hang up. “Physically, there is a moment when you have to be reasonable”, he slips. For the last dates of this “Kenavo Tour”, Jean-Louis Jossic was also afraid “To do half the concert seated”, according to Mr. Chocun.
Achieved by “A neurological problem”, the lead singer of Tri Yann, known for his bleached blond hair in firecracker, suffers from pain in the arms and legs. “An armchair is provided for him, but he ultimately uses it very little”, door “By the adrenaline and the energy of the stage”, says Jean Chocun.
A tour started in 1970
This final Nantes show marks the end of a tour that began in December 1970 in Plouharnel (Morbihan). The three young men, who are not yet called Tri Yann, then sing the Pastourelle of Saint Julien Maraichine in front of a handful of friends.
Jean-Paul Corbineau is a buyer for a supermarket in Nantes; Jean Chocun, administrative assistant at the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique; and Jean-Louis Jossic, professor of history and geography. They string together the Breton balls and are quickly called the “Tri Yann an Naoned” (the “Three Jean de Nantes” in Breton).
Fans of Bob Dylan or Hugues Aufray, they strive to bring Breton and Celtic music out of its ghetto, for “To make something more popular, more open”, in the words of Jean-Paul Corbineau, guitarist and singer, during an interview with AFP in 2020.
Their first album sold out in a few hours and, in 1972, they performed at the Olympia, opening for Juliette Gréco, then became professional musicians the following year. After rather acoustic albums, mixing covers of traditional songs and personal compositions, Tri Yann begins a more rock turn which remains one of his distinctive signs.
An album on the history of Brittany in preparation
With more than three million albums sold, concerts at the Zénith, Bercy, and even at the Stade de France, the fame of the Tri Yann is well established. They sang in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Tunisia, Georgia, Louisiana as well as Quebec and Wales. In France, they broke the Frères Jacques longevity record. “It’s only the Rolling Stones that we don’t beat! “, jokes Jean Chocun.
This final concert does not however mark the end of the trio’s career. If the scene is over, the group has projects in progress, such as an album on the history of Brittany told through songs. For the rest, Jean Chocun will devote his free time to shore fishing, Jean-Louis Jossic intends to publish his tales and Jean-Paul Corbineau wants to travel in France and abroad.
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