Henry Padovani
Whammy Bar, Wellington
November 24, 9:00pm

Rock 'n' Roll …of Corse- A Documentary About Henry Padovani
Paramount Theatre, Wellington
November 25

In a clever piece of cultural promotion the French Embassy and Alliance Française are touring Henry Padovani, the original guitarist of the band The Police.

He is currently on the Australian leg of his tour where he has performed and also given master classes.

Inviting French artists to New Zealand to promote French culture is one of the aims of the cultural department's mission at the French Embassy in Wellington.

They have previously invited writers such as Fariba Hachtroudi who was in residency at the Randell Cottage in Wellington as well as painters, photographers and musicians.

They also work closely with NZ international festivals to encourage the programming of French shows.

The embassy also organises the French Film Festival every year to bring French movies to New Zealanders. In 2010, the festival will be in Auckland (10 - 18 February), Wellington (17 - 25 February) and Christchurch (23 - 28 February).

Henry Padovani, from Corsica (Corse), was one of the founding members of The Police together with Sting and Stewart Copeland whom he met after arriving in London in December 1976. he was at the centre of a revolutionary period in music: in London, the centre of the punk movement. Padovani immersed himself in the heart of the alternative scene and worked with some of the biggest artists of the time.

The original guitarist for The Police went on to work with Zucchero, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Who, and R.E.M, among many others.

Around the world many people have rediscovered this sharp and great rock/blues guitarist with his deep and rich French voice accompanied by an acoustic or an electric guitar.

He can sing the blues and he is able to transform a song by Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf or Jacques Brel into a John Lee Hooker number. Or he will simply remember how Sting played ‘Next to you’ for him the first time, in country style.

To complement his concert the documentary, “Rock’n’roll…of Corse” by French director Lionel Guedj will be screened at the Paramount Theatre on November 25th

“Rock'n'Roll…Of Corse” tells the story of rock during the late 1970s and early 1980’s through interviews and meetings in London and Corsica, and attempts capture the essence of the times in order to make sense of the rock'n'roll movement.

It includes Henry Padovani thirty years after the break-up of The Police's original line-up joining Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers on the stage of the Stade de France, to play in front of a crowd of 80,000 people.

The film focuses on the elements of Padovani's lifestyle as a young student and a rock'n'roller visiting his hometown, where it all began, where he realized that music would become his way of life.