On Hold

Hey Hey Hey

well, life intervenes, and I'll be on tour for a while, so this blog will be on hold.

Meanwhile you can always click over on the right hand side of the screen to see our list of Paris Jazz venues, and if you do a search for a venue or a style in the search box there is a good chance you'll find something that will interest you in the old posts

Enjoy all the music - I'll see you back here soon

cheers
Bremner

What is the Best Jazz Club in Paris?

Ouch... that's so hard.  Asking me to choose which is the best Jazz Bar in Paris!!  That's like choosing the best pastry in a Paris bakery, or choosing which bakery in Paris makes the best croissant!

No, but seriously... the problem is there is so much choice... and each club has a different flavor -

do you want to be up close to the musicians in an intimate dark cavern like Caveau Des Oubliettes,

or do you want dinner and fancy tablecloths while listening to the big band sounds at Le Petit Journal de Montparnasse,  or how about hearing some young new players in the cool, modern metallic walls of the Dynamo,

Paris Jazz Meet-Up #2

Jazz Meet-up #2

Cabaret Jazz  at Le Dynamo
9 Rue Gabrielle Josserand
two minutes walk from
Metro - Aubervilliers-Pantin on Line 7
Saturday, Jan 22, 20h30
14 euros

read more about it at http://www.meetup.com/Paris-Loves-Jazz/

This Jazz Meet Up is happening at the fantastic Dynamo, home of the wonderful Banlieues Bleues Festivals.

LE CABARET DES MUSIQUES A OUIR.
The performers say - "Wilkommen, welcome, bienvenue au cabaret free désinvolte, au music-hall déjanté, dadaïste et féérique, au moulin (rouge) du musette et de la chanson populaire recyclée rock !Brigitte Fontaine et Areski, Billie Holiday, Eric Lareine, Loïc Lantoine, Georges Brassens, Ferré, Dutronc, Boris Vian, les Clash ou Zizi Jeanmaire… " (and I'll translate that freely - "Wilkommen, welcome, welcome to the casual free cabaret, music hall crazy, Dadaist and magical at the red windmill and musette of recycled pop song! Brigitte Fontaine and Areski, Billie Holiday, Eric Lareine, Loïc Lantoine, Georges Brassens, Ferré, Dutronc, Boris Vian, the Clash or Zizi Jeanmaire ." 

You can hear extracts from their new album HERE.

or see a video of these fun loving guys

Wow! Live jazz in Paris rocks and rolls at Studio de l'Ermitage

OK, well these are my new 'favouritist bands ever'!

I went to see Benjamin Moussay and Ping Machine at l'Ermitage last night, accompanied by some new friends from the meet-up group http://www.meetup.com/Paris-Loves-Jazz/

Those bands brought down the house.

Benjamin's trio was a wildly successful mix of ....uhhhh... early Genesis meets Chick Corea?  Dave Holland meets Frank Zappa?  Whatever!  It was great music presented with humour and a delicacy of touch that just charmed the audience.

here they are in the recording session for their last album


they'll be back next in Paris on June 2nd at the Parc Floral Paris Jazz Festival
I really cannot recommend them enough... if I tried to do that I'd be here all day

January 7th, Benjamin Moussay and Ping Machine, live jazz in Paris

A new experiment at Paris Loves Jazz.  Often folks drop me a line and suggest meeting up in Paris to see a jazz show.  I thought I'd change the dynamic and suggest some places to meet up.  Come and check out a show and we'll talk music and share a drink and some great tunes.

You can find out more info at http://www.meetup.com/Paris-Loves-Jazz/

Jazz Meet-up #1


Benjamin Moussay is an imaginative young piano player with a rich sensual sound and lovely melodies.  His trio is an exciting group of young players who belt out new compositions and standards.   He'll be doubling up with the fearsome power of the 13 member strong 'Ping Machine', a group playing original compositions written and orchestrated by Fred Maurin.  Ping Machine is one of the defining groups of the new jazz scene in France.  

Benny Golson's 'Whisper Not'... my New Year's present for ParisLovesJazz readers

Bonne Annee from Paris!!

Here's a nice romantic song to bring in the New Year.

Benny Golson has said that he wrote "Whisper Not" in only 20 minutes, and that the title meant "nothing" he just liked the way the two words sounded together. (Leonard Feather would later write lyrics.) From such ordinary beginnings in 1956 emerged a jazz standard. Its earliest recordings came on Golson's debut as leader (New York Scene) and on albums by the Dizzy Gillespie big band and Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers while Golson was a member of each of those congregations.

Here's my arrangement of Benny Golson's amazing standard - live in concert with my Quartet

Jazz in Paris in January 2011 - what's on in January in the jazz clubs and bars of Paris

Ayiee! Paris in January is busy busy busy with Jazz. There are great jazz concerts in venues all over Paris in January - traditional, avant-garde, nu-jazz, blues - you name it, it's all over town!

My little blog can't begin to give you a complete listing of the Paris jazz venues and concerts in January, but, what I can do is pick out some highlights, and maybe give you some good advice on what looks good.... and maybe even what might be nice to do before or after for a great night out in Paris seeing live jazz.

So.

December 31st (that sort of counts as January, doesn't it...)
At Sunside - Rhoda Scott is pumping out the good time grooves on her Hammond B3 at 8:30pm and 11pm





and if you're going to be at Sunside for either of those gigs, then you should probably be wandering the lovely romantic streets in the Marais sometime before or after... it doesn't matter where you go - it's all beautiful all the time.  My favourite restaurant is Les Philosophes.  Sitting on one of the most beautiful corners in the city they serve up reliably traditional fare in a quiet but romantic setting - perfect for a night out in Paris.