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.

December in the Jazz Bars and Jazz Clubs in Paris

What's on in December in the jazz bars and jazz cafes of Paris?  Music all over the city with so many different styles and approaches.

December 11th the Musee de Quai Branly offers the next concert in their series 'Blue Indigo' - Mike Reed's 'People's Places and Things'.

Django Lives - The Best Gypsy Jazz in Paris

Well, I admit that a little bit of Gypsy Jazz guitar in Paris goes a long way for me. Maybe it's because I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the Gypsy jazz in the Paris venues and concert halls and cafes and bars and street corners and ack!!.... really it is possible all over Paris to hear 'iffy' players hacking through the legacy of Django Reinhardt.  But a few places still do it well....

Paris Jazz...

A fun offering from France for the holiday season.  My quartet and I threw together a rendition of the classic Charles Trenet chanson, 'Menilmontant'...  (named after an extremely cool and historic neighbourhood just a little way down the boulevard from where I live in Paris).

it's a great tune..



for more about my work - visit www.bremnerduthie.com  , or scroll down the page for jazz listing for Paris for December and some great other upcoming jazz gigs in Paris.

Play me some of that old time music, boys.... Big Band Swing Jazz in Paris

Le Petit Journal de Montparnasse programs old time standards, small orchestras, blues bands, gospel singers and dixieland.  No minimalist ECM long form free impro happening there.

Which, if you're into the first, and not into the second, is a very good thing.  .  On December 9th, at 9:30pm.... (well, this is Paris, where everything starts late...so say 'around 9.30pm') Claude Bolling will be bringing his spectacular Big Band to the stage to run through quite a few standards.

Jazz in St. Germain - a weekly event at the Hotel D'Aubusson

Well, I'm not much for smooth jazz, but these two have a lovely sound and technique, and if one is going to be relaxed and calmed by beautiful sounds in a lovely environment, there is not much better place then the centre of St. Germain de Pres, in the centre of Paris.  (St. Germain is really the heart of 'perfect Paris'... it is another world from where I live way up in the north of the city, on the other side of Sacre Coeur.  Up here we talk about going 'into Paris', - a ten minute trip -  when we need go to St. Germain)

Christian Brenner is a pianist and vibraphonist who has a weekly gig at the Cafe Laurent at the Hotel D'Aubusson (one of Simone de Beauvoir's old accomodations - pretty classy, Simone!).