MIRIAM MAKEBA - OLYMPIA, PARIS - 25 MARS 1969

Extrait du concert Miriam Makeba à l'Olympia du 25 mars 1969 produit par Gésip Légitimus

A la fin des années 60 et au début des années 70, mon père Gésip Légitimus, devient le premier producteur noir de la télévision française et produit de nombreux shows : Sammy Davis Jr., Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Jimmy Smith, Thelonius Monk, Myriam Makeba ainsi que la célébration des 70 ans de Duke Ellington à l'Alcazar.

Il lui fut confié la direction du jazz à la télévision et la production de 50 émissions célébrant le cinquantenaire de l’arrivée du Jazz en France.

My father Gésip Légitimus was the originator of a number of businesses and the first (and for a long time the only) black producer of television shows. He helped a huge number of talented black artists from divers horizons become known to the French television public: Gérard Laviny, Manu Dibango, Jimmy Cliff, Tanya Maria, Bonga, Clyde Wright, the Golden Gate Quartet, Randy Crawford, Uta Bella, Bella Bello, etc. As early as 1967 he created a series of television shows with names such as “Pulsations”, “Sur Tous les Tons”, “Rythmes du Temps”, “SamSong” as well as shows for Sammy Davis Junior, Myriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Ray Charles and Duke Ellington’s 70th birthday celebration at the “Alcazar”.

He was given the job of directing jazz on the television and of producing 50 shows to celebrate the fiftieth year of jazz in France. At the “Olympia” he worked with Bruno Coquatrix in organizing numerous concerts.