Jazz Without Borders: The Spirit of Aron & The Jeri Jeri Band
Aron & The Jeri Jeri Band cuts across continents, traditions, and genres.
Born from a chance creative spark in Berlin and grounded in the rich sonic heritage of Senegal, the group is a boundary-defying collaboration between New Zealand-born pianist Aron Ottignon, Griot master percussionist Bakane Seck, and a rotating cast of West African musical powerhouses. Their debut album, Dama Bëgga Ñibi (I Want To Go Home), is an electrifying fusion of Mbalax, Afrobeat, Afrofunk, and jazz—a living, breathing testament to spontaneous creation, diasporic identity, and the radical power of rhythm. As A&TJJB prepares for their first European tour in stripped-down trio form, they’re not simply adapting their full-band energy—they’re reimagining it. In this conversation, Aron reflects on the project’s improvisational roots, the political undercurrents of jazz, and the evolving landscape of global music scenes.
Q: The XJAZZ! Festival is about pushing jazz into new territories. How do you personally define the future of jazz, and where do you see your music fitting into that vision?
Jazz should be about resonating through your own personality. It’s about originality – and true originality has to be lived in your skin and shared from that place. The current environment, especially online, blends practice habits with showboating and diluted “easy-listening” content. It’s not a healthy place for real jazz to breathe.
What I see in the future of jazz is less about genre and more about urgency. It’s not about style; it’s about people saying something real. The problem is, in a world run by metrics and virality, true expression gets drowned. The only safe spaces left seem to be either academic institutions or revivalist niches – broken beat, acid jazz, soul jazz – which can be beautiful, but they’re still more about drawing a crowd than taking a risk.
Q: How has your experience in Senegal shaped your approach to music, and how do you think you will bring that influence to XJAZZ!?
I always thought I'd need to go to Cuba to deepen my rhythmic language at the piano – but Senegal gave me something I didn’t expect. The role of the keyboard in mbalax reminded me of the montuno in Cuban music. Everyone plays these Yamaha DX7 marimba-style patches, with super fast hammer fingers belting out all the rhythm and tones – sometimes they stack them, 2 to 3+ marimba players per band. That completely shifted the way I approached my left hand at the piano.
But the real impact of Senegal wasn’t just musical – it was structural. Producing the music wasn’t the hardest part. Getting the album out, getting the band to Europe… that has been the biggest challenge of my career. It taught me as much about the music industry, patience, and negotiation as it did about rhythm and phrasing. Honestly, just being able to bring a small part of the band to XJAZZ! is already a huge step. We’re showing up with one quarter of the full group – but we’re here, and that matters.
Q: The festival encourages experimentation and collaboration. What do you hope to take away from the experience?
I’ll definitely be wandering around with my ears and heart open – I love meeting artists who are doing something original. I'm also bloody shy in those scenarios (please approach me). Collaboration, for me, is a chance to learn, to be tested. I’m always looking for new approaches, new tools, new energies.
But honestly, my main focus this time is making sure our first EU show with the Senegalese band happens smoothly. We’re flying in three musicians, have a tight window to rehearse, and just two of us – Mariane and I – handling everything: production, backline, logistics, label work, promo, funding, you name it. We’re exhausted but hopeful. If the show goes well, that’s the real win. And if we somehow manage to hang out and party a little – that would be cool.
