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!).

The Upcoming Week in Paris Jazz bars and clubs

Some new artists and some heavyweights appearing in the upcoming week or so in Paris jazz bars.  If these don't interest you then check out the complete club listings for more options!

At Sunset/Sunside, right in the heart of the city, on a lovely pedestrian street on the right bank there are some nice acts this week.  On Friday night, at 10pm, Nico Wayne Toussaint, the French blues singer and harmonica player is performing (should be a nice way to end a cold friday with some hot blues)  Here's Nico playing some particularly down and dirty harmonica

And on Saturday night as part of their 'New Sounds' fest, Brice Martin and Claude Bartholomy are shaking up the downstairs at Sunset with some outside vocal and sax sounds

Blue Indigo - Jazz in Paris at the Quai Branly Museum

Jazz in Paris from around the world

Le Quai Branly is a wonderful new museum on the left bank.  One more example of new  cutting edge architecture for the city.  They specialize in exhibiting world cultures and the interior is a treat to wander through - it's a maze of rooms and alleys and interiors that make you feel like you are discovering the different worlds.  And, in Spring the little park in front is a welcome retreat from the bustle of the city.  This season they are presenting a jazz series that is a welcome change from the regular jazz venues and jazz cafes around town.

Over the course of the 2010-2011 season they are presenting a series they call Blue Indigo, a season of concerts that symbolically retraces the original roads through the Deep South (with John Hebert’s Byzantine Monkey, Matana Roberts’ Coin Coin) to the East Coast (Tyshawn Sorey Quartet, Steve Lehman Octet, Craig Taborn, William Parker & Gerald Cleaver Trio), and the Midwest (Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things, Chicago Underground Duo).

Jazz Radio in Paris

Jazz Radio Stations in Paris

the supreme radio station in Paris for jazz fans is TSF, which used to be a communist station until it was bought in 1999 by Frank Tenot & Jean-Francois Bizot. their playlist tends towards the great standards, but keep an ear open at 8pm Monday to Friday, when programming manager Sebastien Vidal interviews a who's-who of Paris players & visitors.

in the morning, catch excellent historic recordings and stories from former France Musique director Pierre Bouteiller...on TSF every weekday morning at 9am for the rare early-rising jazz enthusiast!


So, while you're getting ready to go out, here are some excellent radio shows to tune into when you're in Paris: