Southern Experience is the new project led by French saxophonist Raphaël Imbert, in collaboration with Atlanta jazz musician Kebbi Williams. As an extension of the former project Music is my field, Imbert invites Williams, CJ Brinson and Zacchaeus Paul to Marseille in July 2025.
The story began in May 2023, when French saxophonist and composer Raphaël Imbert embarked on a Villa Albertine residency in the United States. His project, Music is My Field, set out to explore the rich musical traditions of the Southeast and Appalachia. It was in Atlanta that Imbert first connected with saxophonist Kebbi Williams and his collective, Reverence, during the city’s Music in the Park festival.That encounter sparked a transatlantic artistic exchange. Imbert invited Williams to perform at the J.E.S.T. Festival in Marseille in November 2023, and later at the Marseille Jazz des Cinq Continents festival in July 2024. The collaboration deepened in November 2024, when Imbert came back to Atlanta. Alongside Marseille-based musicians T.I.E. (electronics) and Blanche Lafuente (drums), he traveled to Atlanta to co-create a new piece with Williams, Zacchaeus Paul, and Daniel Wytanis. The result was a powerful performance at Music in the Park on November 17, 2024.
The story began in May 2023, when French saxophonist and composer Raphaël Imbert embarked on a Villa Albertine residency in the United States. His project, Music is My Field, set out to explore the rich musical traditions of the Southeast and Appalachia. It was in Atlanta that Imbert first connected with saxophonist Kebbi Williams and his collective, Reverence, during the city’s Music in the Park festival.
That encounter sparked a transatlantic artistic exchange. Imbert invited Williams to perform at the J.E.S.T. Festival in Marseille in November 2023, and later at the Marseille Jazz des Cinq Continents festival in July 2024. The collaboration deepened in November 2024, when Imbert came back to Atlanta. Alongside Marseille-based musicians T.I.E. (electronics) and Blanche Lafuente (drums), he traveled to Atlanta to co-create a new piece with Williams, Zacchaeus Paul, and Daniel Wytanis. The result was a powerful performance at Music in the Park on November 17, 2024.During the same trip, Fabien Ottones, bassist and pianist, jazz teacher at the Marseille Conservatory, and Antoine-Aurèle Cohen-Perrot, drummer and percussionist, sociologist and jazz student at the Marseille Conservatory, discovered the concept of improvised music from Reverence by Kebbi Williams. Upon their return, inspired by this approach, they created Advenir Collective: a collective of musicians from the jazz and improvised music scene in Marseille.
This evolving collaboration exemplifies how artist residencies can catalyze long-term partnerships between musicians and cultural institutions alike, from Gallery 992 and AMI to Marseille’s Conservatoire and Friche la Belle de Mai.
In 2025, this creative synergy culminates in a new project: Southern Experience. The ensemble brings together the jazz-forward energies of Atlanta – Kebbi Williams, CJ Brison (drums), and Zacchaeus Paul (keys) – with Marseille’s improvisational scene, represented by Imbert, Lafuente (a 2026 Villa Albertine resident), and T.A.I. (Ngnima Sarr). Fusing jazz with hip-hop, gospel, orality, and pop, the project explores improvisation with intensity, emotion, and contemporary flair.
The group will take the stage on July 12, and Advenir Collective will perform on July 11, 2025, at the Marseille Jazz des Cinq Continents festival. Learn more.
Southern Experience is part of City-Cité: Atlanta x Marseille, a cultural exchange initiative connecting cities through creativity and shared values, an initiative of Villa Albertine Atlanta.
In partnership with Marseille Jazz des cinq continents, the Conservatoire Pierre Barbizet, and Campus Art Méditerranée.
Raphaël Imbert
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Raphaël Imbert is a self-taught jazz saxophonist, conductor, and composer. One of his favorite areas of research, which he continues to pursue, is the spiritual in jazz. The founding act of Raphaël Imbert’s artistic approach dates back to 1999, with the creation of a nine-musician orchestra, La Compagnie Nine Spirit. In 2010, Raphaël Imbert joined the Improtech program, in conjunction with IRCAM and EHESS, and trave,led to the United States to study the links between traditional folk music, orality and improvisation, new media and the digital revolution. He has worked with musicians such as Archie Shepp, Daniel Humair, Yaron Herman, Anne Paceo, the Manfred Quartet, the Chemirani Trio, Arnaud Thorette and Johan Farjot’s Ensemble Contraste, Johan Farjot, Karol Beffa, Hugh Coltman, Laurent de Wilde, and more. Raphaël Imbert’s discography includes “Newtopia Project: Suite Élégiaque” (2006), “Bach – Coltrane” (2008), “New York Project” (2009), “Live au Tracteur”(2011), “Heavens – Amadeus u0026amp; The Duke” (2013), “Janus” (2013), “The Appalachians” (2014).
Kebbi Williams
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Kebbi Williams is a Grammy award-winning tenor saxophonist and one of contemporary music’s whirlwind improvisers. His innovative sound dives, blends and jumpstarts all music genres. Avant-garde jazz, hip-hop, Afro-beat, gospel, electronica, classical,a and fiery rock are all loops that Kebbi interweaves with passion and edge. The Atlanta native received both an undergraduate degree and a Master’s in Jazz Studies from prestigious Howard University. At the age of 22, he won the Jazz Instrumental Soloist Category (college division) award from Downbeat Magazine. Kebbi launched his professional career as a much-in-demand, studio and touring musician. OutKast, the legendary Donald Byrd, Cee-lo Green, Mos Def, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, Bilal, Oteil Burbridge, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Russell Gunn, Julie Dexter ) and iconic Betty Carter are among the elite musicians and vocalists who jumped off Kebbi’s unique horn. He is also an original member and has been touring for the ninth year with the Tedeschi Trucks Band (with whom he won the Grammy in 2012 in the Blues Album category).
T.I.E
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Ngnima Sarr, known as T.I.E, is a multifaceted Senegalese artist, singer, poetess, songwriter, and music producer, leading projects like T.I.E, The Love Process, and Exilians. She also created the immersive show Lâcher L’homme inspired by Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks. Additionally, she recently participated in the thought-provoking piece Freedom, I’ll have lived your dream until the full last day, curated by Felwine Sarr, showcased in New York and North Carolina with the support of Villa Albertine’s Face Theater and FUSED programs. T.I.E’s work is rooted in an Afro-eco-feminist vision, evident in her installation Mawu’s Daughters, which premiered in Dakar during Partcours 2022. She is a former resident of Villa Albertine Atlanta.
Blanche Lafuente
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Blanche Lafuente was born in Marseille into a family of musicians. She discovered drums at the age of 15 thanks to her love of rock. She played in various bands and at 20 moved to Paris to study jazz at the conservatoire. She graduated summa cum laude in 2018. She is influenced by many different genres, including improvised music, free jazz, punk, and experimental music, as well as Flamenco, traditional Basque music, and African percussion. ,Still very active on the contemporary jazz scene in France, in 2021 she joined the group Nout with Delphine Joussein and Rafaëlle Rinaudo. In 2023, she played with prestigious orchestras including Eve Risser and Nainy Diabaté’s Red Desert Orchestra and Kogoba Basigui, as well as Mats Gustafsson’s Scandinavian Orchestra Fire! Passionate about theater and stage work, Blanche also plays and creates music for the circus (with the Galactik Ensemble) and the theater (Renaud Cojo, Alexandre Zeff). In Marseille, she founded Le Tambour, which aims to highlight the cultural practices of the different communities present in this port city known for its multiculturalism. Blanche Lafuente is a Resident Villa Albertine 2026.
Zacchae'us Paul
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Zacchae’us Paulu is a young multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter of the highest caliber. His music is a kaleidoscope of styles and sounds that enriches the soul and nourishes the mind. Rooted in the vibrant city of Atlanta, GA, his inspired music delves deep into the very fabric of society, tackling pressing issues such as reparations for historical injustices and the empowering love and spirituality embodied by black women. Like a harmonious symphony, Paul’s music weaves together the diverse threads of jazz music, seamlessly blending different styles and showcasing the captivating clash and interplay between them. It serves as a testament to the power of music created specifically for local neighborhoods and communities, a soundtrack that reverberates through the very streets it was born in. As part of a new wave of jazz artists pushing the boundaries of the genre, Paul is making his mark on the music industry. His label debut, “Jazz Money” executive produced by NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington and featuring guest artists like Melanie Charles, Gregorie Maret, donSMITH, Cisco Swank and Candid label mate Morgan Guerin, is out now.
CJ Brinson
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Christopher Brinson Jr., better known by his stage name, Uncle CJ, is an American drummer, music producer, artist, and the founder of S.M.I.L.E. Clothing. Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he has deep roots in music ranging from gospel to couture sounds. Uncle CJ is now a member of the Atlanta based improv group, Reverence, and the leader of CJ Brinson & Family collective. The journey is just beginning.
