A 'just outside Paris' jazz club event - Tuesday Nov 23

And this is a ‘just outside of Paris’ jazz club in a totally cool space.  As Paris becomes ever more expensive artists and musicians and whole festivals are moving just past the borders of the city - like Williamsburg in NYC (..perhaps not quite as 'cool' as Williamsburg, but you get the idea...) So the north-east suburbs of Montreuil and Pantin are becoming slowly filled with artists and artisans and new theatre and music spaces - the artists are, (as one of my favourite pieces of graffiti once said) 'the shock troops of gentrification'.


The aptly named Banlieu Blues fest presents in November a festival of jazz and blues just outisde Paris - Dynamo (La Dynamo de Banlieu Bleus – which wonderfully translates as something like THE DYNAMO OF SUBURBAN BLUES!).  There will be wine and maybe food if you get there early....



 I love their funky modern building.

Tuesday, November 23 · 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm

(and when I say ‘just outside Paris’ remember that Paris proper is a tiny city, so ‘just outside’ only means a 15 minute metro ride from the centre of Paris) or a 10 minute walk past the official edge of the city.... (which is the huge highway that rings Paris) so take a chance and check it out..)

Banlieue Blues

9 rue Gabrielle Josserand
Pantin, France

GREGORY OTT TRIO, JULIAN DAIAN QUINTET

Gregory Ott trio
Based in Alsace, the trio of pianist Greg Ott opens the third Dynamo fest.

Gregory Ott studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg and started his trio in 2003 looking for a way to play jazz open to all musical backgrounds

Gregory Ott piano, kevin Reveyrand bass, drums Matthew Zirn

and the Julien Daian Quintet
from Marseille a whole new set of young French jazz up and comers

Young saxophonist Julien Daian offers jazz and uninhibited influences ranging from hip hop to rock to the Balkan music and jazz in its most traditional - a hybrid sound where everyone is welcome whatever his tendencies, a " New York melting pot a la francaise. "

Julien Daian saxophones, trumpet Aristide Goncalves, Thomas'siska ' Cassis piano, bass Tommaso Montagnani, Octave Ducasse battery, DJ Borz samples

Fee: 8 euro

And (full disclosure ) I can assure you of some amazing bass sounds for the Julien Daian quintet, since it features the amazing sound of Tommaso Montagnani, 

who graced my CD of standards ‘The Sky Was Blue’ – listen to him light up the solo for Benny Golson’s ‘Whisper Not’, or the Talking Heads 'Heaven'

here's some youtube of Gregory and Julien

and Julian and a guest singer lighting up the scene with Suzanne Vega's Tom's Diner

I'll be posting some more listings for the downtown clubs later this week, but if you're searching for stuff yourself then cruise over to our Clubs listing where you'll find links to most of the jazz clubs and bars in town.