Drums at La Fenetre jazz venue in Paris

La Fenetre is a great addition to the jazz venues in Paris. It's a little black box set in a wonderful old industrial courtyard. But, in contrast to many other black box theatres, they've spent time and energy on converting it acoustically so the music actually sound good (and not like you're simply sitting inside a large shoebox with a band at one end). It's a bit off the beaten path east of Bastille, but it's worth the wander. And a walk up Rue du Charonne with its trendy cafes and clothing stores and design emporiums is never a bad thing for window shopping and people watching.

I saw the Drum Trio Pacatom. There was enough percussion instruments on stage to provide the rhythm section for five bands! Perhaps with La Fenetre's placement in an industrial building they are presenting the kind of noisy bands that a lot of other venues are having to restrict. However this night didn't really seem to fly: perhaps the trio just had too many instruments on stage. They pulled off a fun set and I liked their intentions, but they seemed almost lost in their instruments, and the trio really only got going when they settled into a fairly standard rock/funk groove and let fly. In the quieter passages they didn't seem to be exploring the range of sounds that all those instruments could produce and I found myself rather bored. Once, at a drum festival, I had the pleasure of watching an ancient Indian drummer captivate a hall of 3000 people for almost 20 minutes with nothing more than a tambourine. I remember finding myself on the edge of my seat listening to him play. Perhaps sometimes it is best to keep things to a minimum.

free voices jazz in Paris

The nomadic heart of LA VOIX EST LIBRE jazz festival in Paris was alive and pounding on Saturday night...first night of the festival, the Bouffes was crammed-full. What I like about this fest is the risk-taking--which doesn't always work, but isn't stepping out on that ledge the soul of jazz? The first part of the night featured Reunion singer Nathalie Natiembe riffing with American sax player David Murray and French drummer Denis Charolles. And i found Natiembe a bit out of her element when the two free jazz types got going --Murray playing from the guts and Charolles maniacal, playing percussion with rocks & hand tools.



After a brief break, Titi Robin walked out with no warning, no fanfare...just his trademark delicate lute-playing as we crowded quietly back into our seats. His guitar and lute were a curiously successful meld with Danyel Waro's ecstatic Maloya songs. Their collaboration was initially a project with Africolor, and by the end of Saturday night, even the usually sedate Parisian crowd was up & dancing.

Waro's a kind of figurehead of Reunion music. He went to jail back in the 70s for refusing to do his French military service (and in jail wrote a memoir Romans ékri dans la zol en Frans) and he sings entirely in creole Maloya--a language that was forbidden by the French colonists. Waro was backed by two spectacular Reunion drummers and singers, Vincent Phileas and Loran Dalo--check out our brief video (Francis Varis on accordeon, Pascal Stalin on electric bass) for a tiny taste of the night...

Brazilian food and Jazz in Paris

Run, don't walk to this Brazilian restaurant in Paris for the food and the jazz. But wait, this seems like some kind of nightmare! I've finally found the best South American food I've tasted in Paris, plus a fabulous jazz guitarist whose standards calm a whole restaurant of noisy eaters into devoted attention. And even better: they serve what are possibly also the best cocktails in Paris. And they do all this with a smile on their faces --And it's their last night!!

No! It's going to be allright: I can calm down. A quick conversation with the waitress reassured me. In fact it's only their last night in this location. They'll be opening up near Gare de L'Est for the summer in a larger premises with a small stage for the musician: Le Mano Bueno brazilian restaurant. They couldn't give me their new address yet, but this will be worth a google in the summer if you're looking for a fabulous evening. Benoit Gil plays there every Saturday and he tucked himself in behind the bar and played wonderful standards with a South American musician (whose name I couldn't catch) but who I chatted with about his instrument of the night. He's actually a classically trained pianist who fled military dictatorship and tonight was playing an 110- year-old Cornet de Poche (just think about whose hands that might have passed through). They were a joy to watch & hear. Benoit has an impeccable light touch on the guitar and sings his way through standards with an adorable French accent.

So, you can, in fact, walk to this wonderful corner of Brazil in Paris and you'll get there in time for their opening sometime early this summer..

The Unexpected Pleasures of Jazz in Paris

I have to admit my heart dropped a little bit when I walked downstairs in the wonderful little jazz club in the Marais, the 7 Lezards and saw three people watching a lute and oboe duet play jazz. I had walked by late and realized there was probably the chance of catching a last set and the bartender sold me a ticket at half price and told me that if they finished in the next ten minutes he'd refund it.

So I walked downstairs in total ignorance of what and who was playing. But, I admit, it was late and I was hoping for something high energy to get me up and listening. However that is the joy of jazz; at its best you never know what you're going to get and you never know what form it's going to come in. The two players, Claude Barthelemy : Guitar & Oud and Jean-Luc Fillon : Oboe, were simply wonderful. I felt sorry for the uncountable numbers of people who weren't in that tiny little cellar to witness the pleasure that these two were taking from the music and their own exchange. Jean-Luc Fillon says "I want to reveal in Jazz and improvised music the richness, authenticity and lyricism of the oboe, an instrument hitherto confined to the tradition of written music". I was delighted to be part of his audience. Check out the video below for a tiny slice of the evening.

Red Velvet Jazz Festival in St. Germain des Pres

Spent Tuesday night in the cellar of the normally 'members only' Castel club for the launch of the annual FESTIVAL JAZZ A SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRES (see our listings page for links and details). It was surreal scene of velvet wallpaper, vaulted ceilings and an open bar serving gin & tonics with miniature macaroons...not sure what all the cookies had to do with jazz but eventually there was a mini-concert by New Zealand pianist Aron Ottignon (who'll be playing the Fest) and a speech by Frédéric Charbaut, the director of the festival.


Congrats to Aron for pulling off an impressive little gig in spite of fighting a terrible thrashed electric piano--with the sound pumped through the house disco system. Aron's playing has been described as 'testosterone fuelled Rachmaninov-goes-jazz that will take your breath away'--you can decide for yourself at the Showcase (the bar under Pont Alexandre III) on May 17th.

What's exciting about the St-Germain Fest is its great mix of contemporary & traditional artists, including new talent showcases, daytime events (like the innovative Jazz Bus) AND a slew of free shows. Looking forward to spending some time in Saint-Germain starting next week...

Blue Skies

The studio is booked, the rehearsals are on track, the arrangements are down on paper, some demos are up on My Space--which means I'm up & running for the recording at the end of May. At http://myspace.com/bremnerduthie there are five rough mixes from the album (tentatively named The Sky Was Blue). I'll be re-recording them at Bopcity studios with Remi Amblard on piano and rhodes, Tomasso Montagnani on electric and standup bass, Benoit Gil on guitar and Thierry Tardieu on drums and percussion.

And you can bet there will be one hell of a party in mid-June when we're done recording!

Manda Djinn, jazz and gospel singer at the Swan Bar in Paris

Manda Djinn is a force of nature.
She sings a high energy vocal jazz styled with gospel and rhythm and blues, and boy, she puts on a show! There's a lot of singers who are so deep in their vocal technique they seem absent physically from the stage, but Manda right there... She covers all the territory... her technique is fabulous: she knows the style she wants, she can pull of the interpretation... and she's a 'showman', in the best sense of the term: she connects with the audience and makes them feel and understand the text and the meaning of each song, while looking like she's having the best time in the world doing it. She used to be a professional dancer and that sense of rhythm and comfort on stage comes through in her music and physical presence. I've spoken with her a little bit about her performing history and sometime's it seems like she's simply sung or performed with everyone, everywhere..

For the past years she's had an active career in Gospel music in Europe, and around the world (She told me she's heading off to Japan for a Gospel tour in the next few days) but now she's going back to the standards: and with a fine couple of musicians: Claude Carrière on piano and Stephane Boutrit on double-bass. Manda has a regular monthly gig at the Swan Bar. check out our What's On Now page for upcoming info...