Paris Music Scene

We were looking forward to our night crawling in and out of a number of Parisian Jazz Clubs. We knew that we would be doing a fair bit of walking, so the biggest decision for Judy was to what shoes to wear. 

What a great Christmas gift we received from the Noble "Kids", a musical night on the town. We love music and we love Paris, so , good combination. Our guide, Danilo, texted us to set up our rendez-vous spot. We were to meet at a restaurant near Au Pied De Cochon. We took the metro to the Louvre-Rivoli station and walked up Rue du Louvre to meet Danilo. We had no problem spotting him as he arrived wearing his traditional scally cap. He gave us an idea of our evening, starting with something "chill" and moving on to something more lively.

Our first venue was downstairs in the restaurant, Baltard du Louvre. We felt like we were descending the stairs into someone's converted basement. Converted into a night club. Low lighting, lots of couches and low tables. A small trio was setting up in the corner while many of the patrons milled around talking as if they knew each other.  In fact, they did know each other and tonight was going to be a vocal jam. The trio warmed up and then people in the crowd got up to sing. An older woman got the best response from the appreciative crowd while and Asian woman sang an American song, in a French jazz club, in Japanese. Quite a unique experience. Live Jazz Karaoke.

We left there after a few numbers to make our way to another club on Rue des Lombards, well known for its clubs and rowdiness. While walking the 10 minutes, or so, through the new mall at Les Halles, Danilo explained to us why he ended up in Paris. As a musician, he needs to grow and play with good and better musicians. In Paris, there are many jazz clubs and many opportunities to jam with great players. Of course, one needs to have a certain proficiency to play but the environment encourages all levels. He plays in many clubs around town. Unfortunately, his sax was "in the shop" for some repairs this night.

We worked our way through a small, crowded bar at the Sunset/Sunside Jazz Club to make it into the back room. The place was mobbed with fans but Danilo managed to squeeze us around a small table a few rows from the front. This trio, piano, bass and drum, were doing an Hommage a Gershwin, so we could actually recognize what they were jamming to.



The piano player was fantastic. She was in complete control of the chaos of a jam. With a quick look or a nod she could initiate the next solo from the bass or the drummer.

She seemed to have the best rapport with the drummer. Just a little eye contact and he was off on his own for bit.

Coincidentally, we had attended a concert at a church where the pianist also played Gershwin. Both were equally great in their own way.

After a break, they came back to play one song. The pianist asked the crowd, " Do we have a pianist? Bassist? Drummer? in the audience? Slowly a few people made their way to the stage and took their place for the jam. Here's a sax player who jumped in and a guitar player who actually went to school with Danilo. 

From there, we walked about 5 steps to the club next door, Les Basier Sale

We passed through the cafe part and up the back stairs to the explosive sounds of a Jazz/Latin/African/Fusion/Carib/Rock band (or something like that) blasting through their version of (Living My Life Like It's) Golden (cick here for Youtube version by Jill Scott)

There was so much energy in this club. Everyone was into the music and that was reflected in how the musicians performed. Here's the club owner who joins in on the bongos He was pretty good at it.

The drummer was terrific and the bass and keyboard player worked well  together.

Next, another guest from the audience came on stage. She did a great job on Michael Jackson's Pretty Young Thing (maybe they hadn't heard that even the Simpsons had dropped the Michael Jackson episode after the HBO special). After some long jams, she finished with a series of runs that the piano player imitated exactly. Not sure if they had done this before but the pianist answered all of her different runs perfectly on the keyboard. Pretty amazing.







At this point, it was almost 1am and the Metro would stop running soon. We worked our way out of the club and Danilo walked with us a bit til we came upon a rack of bikes for rent. He grabbed one of those Velibs for his ride across Paris while we walked the half-mile or so on Rue de Rivoli to our apartment. Except for a few homeless sleeping in doorways, we had the road to ourselves.


This was a fantastic evening. Danilo was very personal, as if we had been friends forever. He shared his love of music with us and we talked about our common interests. The conversation flowed very easily

He opened our eyes and ears to the music scene in Paris and suggested a number of other places for us to try. This was just the impetus we needed to explore  more of the exciting Parisian Nightlife.

Thanks so much to the Nobles for this very unique and thoughtful present.