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Paris Jazz Diary 2011
ByJazz is easy to locate in Paris because music venues are listed by type in the events section of two weekly mini-magazinesPariscope and L'Official Spectaclethat are issued every Wednesday, and available at newsstand kiosks. Among the many free music publications are LYLO (les yeux/les oreilleseyes/ears) and Paris Jazz Club, found at venues and FNAC music/book stores, where advance tickets may be purchased (recommended for top-name performers).
The midnight hour in Paris also is when some boeufs beginjam sessions so-named from the1930s, when jazz musicians met to play at midnight on the rooftop of Le Boeuf restaurant. But other jams start as early as 6 or 8 pm. There are frequent tributes to deceased and living jazz luminaries, including jazz manouche that replicate the gypsy-jazz sound of

Django Reinhardt
guitar1910 - 1953

Nina Simone
piano and vocals1933 - 2003

Ella Fitzgerald
vocals1917 - 1996
I heard jazz in more than a dozen clubs and caught many random acts of jazz on street corners and pedestrian bridges around the city. The tradition of buskers (itinerant musicians) is global, the performers setting out a hat, cap or open instrument case to encourage donations. The sounds ranged from six-piece jazz bands with upright pianos to solo saxophonists with recorded accompaniment, as well as numerous accordion player and even a roller-blading guitarist. Among my perennial favorites is singer Dan Fitzgerald, an American expatriate who has roamed Europe since the 1980s, often adding young traveling musicians to his ensemble. The Metro subway cars have hop-on/off musicians who often favor jazz standards along with French favorites such as

Sidney Bechet
saxophone, soprano1897 - 1959
The biggest names (at the biggest admission prices) are booked at the cavernous Olympia (a double-header of

Esperanza Spalding
bassb.1984

Hiromi
pianob.1979

Charles Lloyd
saxophoneb.1938

Tania Maria
pianob.1948

Brad Mehldau
pianob.1970

Maceo Parker
saxophone, altob.1943

Randy Weston
piano1926 - 2018

Tom Harrell
trumpetb.1946

Archie Shepp
saxophone, tenorb.1937

Medeski Martin & Wood
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1991
In between special events, jazz fans can rotate among as many as 20 small clubs. Three neighboring spots in the heart of Paris offer nightly jazz, Sunside staging its American Jazz Festival in August, with a mix of visiting bands. Its downstairs sister-club, Sunset, books both touring and Europe-based musicians. Next door is Le Baiser Sale, with almost nightly jam sessions, this year led by Tiss Rodriguez, a gregarious drummer who invites different soloists to front his house band. Among them were a most-memorable Lou Tavano, a captivating European song stylist who sounds sweet one moment and searing the next; and young Clarence Revil's spot-on

Ray Charles
piano and vocals1930 - 2004
Not far down the same street is the posh supper club Le Duc des Lombards, where one of my summer high points was hearing French pianist


Oscar Peterson
piano1925 - 2007

Kyle Eastwood
bassb.1968

Ramsey Lewis
piano1935 - 2022
Among US-based touring musicians I heard was

Monty Alexander
pianob.1944

Bob Marley
guitar1945 - 1981

Roy Hargrove
trumpet1969 - 2018
It's always a pleasure to reconnect with former Arizona jazz and blues singer Sylvia Howard, who has lived in Paris for 12 years. Her summer itinerary included several major European festivals, but she also performed a full week in the jazz lounge of the five-star Hotel Meridien L'Etoile. Her book of American standards included "Tenderly" and "You'd Be So Easy to Love," as well as blues and pop that fit her subsequent booking at Le Caveau de la Huchette, a swing-dance underground venue (the oldest continuous jazz club in Paris, since 1946) that, later in the month, featured fluent boogie-woogie pianist Jean-Paul Amouroux, who has entertained in the city since 1970.
Among the most popular small clubs is Café Universel, with frequent jams featuring French vocalists who sing American songs in English, many of them students at the Sorbonne or University of Paris. Caveau de les Oubliettes is a two-room cellar-club with elbow-to-elbow seating at tiny tables under low ceilings. In contrast, Café Laurent is a spacious bar-lounge in the Hotel D'Aubusson. Le Petit Journal St. Michel and Le Petit Journal Montparnasse are small and large supper clubs, respectively. Melody Blues is a boat that cruises the Seine River during performances. Other venues include Chez Papa, Jazz Cartoon, Swan Bar and Le Blue Note.
These jazz clubs are full of dedicated listeners of all ages, even when admission is as high as 25 to 40 Euros ($36 to $60), although most entry costs are much less. Most jam sessions have free admission, and piano bars cost only the price of a drink. La Cité de la Musique arts complex has jazz and classical concerts, as well as fascinating exhibits relating to music. And radio station TSF (89.9 fm) programs 24/7 mainstream jazz and bebop.
Tags
Live Reviews
Patricia Myers
Django Reinhardt
Nina Simone
Ella Fitzgerald
Sidney Bechet
Esperanza Spalding
Hiromi
charles lloyd
Tania Maria
brad mehldau
Maceo Parker
Randy Weston
Tom Harrell
archie shepp
Medeski, Martin & Wood
Ray Charles
Philippe Duchemin
oscar peterson
Kyle Eastwood
Ramsey Lewis
Monty Alexander
bob marley
Roy Hargrove
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