Jazz trumpeter Feven Kidane plays music inspired by Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat at VIFF Centre, November 16
New documentary from Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, a look at the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, screens directly afterward
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.
VIFF Centre presents Feven Kidane Quartet: Music Inspired by the Film Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat + Film Screening in partnership with The Infidels Jazz on November 16 at 7 pm at the Vancity Theatre as part of VIFF Live
THE 1961 ASSASSINATION of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected leader of the Republic of Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), is at the heart of Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez’s new documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.
Released earlier this year, the film follows the country’s battle for independence against a backdrop of colonialism. It also stresses the importance of the jazz scene spearheaded by Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach in navigating Cold War politics and Black Liberation. All this is woven together essay-style with a mix of archival news footage, investigative interviews, and of course, jazz music.
Canadian multi-instrumentalist Feven Kidane will honour the themes in Soundtrack for a Coup d’Etat with an original set of music before the film’s VIFF Centre screening on November 16. She’ll be playing trumpet in a quartet consisting of keyboardist Quincy Mayes, drummer Bernie Arai, and bassist Milo Johnson.
Kidane, who is of Ethiopian and Eritrean ancestry, applies the traditions of Black American music to her practice while studying its roots in decolonization and liberation. Ahead of a 2022 performance at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, she told Stir that to her, “broadening the horizons of who you play with is very important, because you’re not only playing with a person’s instrument, you’re also playing with their spirit and ancestry and where they come from musically”.
At the Vancity Theatre presented in partnership with The Infidels Jazz, Kidane’s quartet will play resonant sounds inspired by a deeply emotional connection to Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. Duality is at the forefront of both the concert and film; the evening strikes a balance between decades-old shared grief and a renewed drive for action. 
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