Caveau Des Oubliettes also has a bona fide blues jam on Sunday nights
hosted by Phil Fernandez and his trio "Big Dez." The band is so enjoyable
that you're a bit sorry when they cede the stage to eager jammers. But the
musicianship of the latter is impressive to the point of being
professional. The music generated from most of my domestic jams tends to
be hackneyed, boring, and clearly amateur. But from what I've heard at the
clubs around Paris, the French are not content to recycle a few licks ad
nausseam for their repertoire. They've taken America's greatest export and
served it with tasty innovation. Oh, here's another foreign sight I saw in
the Parisian club scene: audiences! Intimately packed shoulder-to-shoulder
in standing room only space, people were actually listening and grooving
to the music! The center of attention and attraction was the stage, not
socializing and drinking which appear to be the main appeal of the thinly
attended stateside venues. How encouraging to see the roots of American
music alive and appreciated. Maybe one day we'll replant them in our
native land as the French once did with their grapevines preserved in
American soil
Ansel
Dave R. Fertig composed the following on 4/26/2005:
Message: 11
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 20:31:13 -0700
From: "Dave R. Fertig" <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Jam in Paris - I mean Blues Jams, confiture oui!
To: Mox Gowland <mox.gowland@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, harp-l
<harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <6.1.2.0.2.20050426202835.029ab200@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
At 0703 AM 4/26/2005, Mox Gowland wrote:
no jam in paris? confiture oui
all harp-l lurkers listers and harpers are welcome Monday 30 May at the
Utopia
79 rue de l'ouest, 75014 Paris
it's not a jam as such but you'll be welcome to sit in on a tune or three.
Wow, Max, you're a gem, thanks for offering such a wonderful opportunity,
I wish I was going to remain in Paris for yet another month, alas I leave
April 30 for points South. but I'll be back! However, here's what I
have learned about:
OPEN BLUES JAMS IN PARIS? Mais oui,beacoup confiture!
In the past month here in Paris, I have been searching for actual blues
jams. So far, I have found three actual blues jams, and three other jams
which I enjoyed and would recommend, but weren't no blues jams. Perhaps
there are more, I've not searched with Sherlock-Holmes-ian assiduity, but
I've been asking the lists and looking on the web and scouring the event
guides.
The guides led me to a couple local clubs in the Latin Quarter, these
were fun little caves with some great musicians, and another in an
allegedly Irish bar near the Moulin Rouge. Thanks to fellow listmates I
also found a tiny joint near the Bastille and a couple dives just outsid
the Peripherique, or beltway, an easy fifteen-minute tube ride from
central Paris.
I will note all had splendid musicians and I recommend all six. Alos, the
first three were not really "blues jams" as I have experienced them
(both in the US and France.), The latter three decidedly were. Thanks,
listmates!
Of the non-blues-jams, the first two, both on Wednesdays, were either
straight-ahead jazz (Caveau des Oubliettes, 52 Rue Galande, near Note
Dame) or straight-ahead jazz with some rock'n roll standards (Cavern, 21
Rue Dauphine, near Pont Neuf), and interestingly there was a surfeit of
horns, most of whom played from charts. Lot of fun, great music, but the
orthodoxy of playing from the charts was intimidating, and I ain't a jazz
player. Okay, I admit to being intimidated by written music, and those
who adhere to it. Anyway, I'd rather be swamped by brass than
geeterboxes! But these weren't no blues jams. They were fun and
somewhat open, but very orthodox musically, in terms of playing jazz
standards and pop tunes.
The jam at the Irish pub, (Cockney Tavern, 39 Blvd. de Clichy, near
Moulin Rouge) was like most so-called blues jams in large taverns
state-side, in that it was way too loud, focused on a couple guitar-stars
(one really excellent!) and played more rock 'n pop than blues, but had
some great blues tunes as well, and some fine singing, including by
genial and hardworking host Erik. But it wasn't particularly welcoming
or warm (there'd been lots of drinking before I got there) and it was
really a loud bar crowd with a band in back sort of scene.
The latter three which I would call more traditional bar blues jams also
ran the gamut.
Friday evenings (an unusual night for a jam, eh?) there's a great litle
open jam near the Bastille called AperoBlues. I wrote about it before,
appended below, and will hopefully go back this Friday. This was my
favorite, because it was very hip, open, spontaneous and the coordinator
(CJ) kept a list and made sure everyone, I mean everyone, got a turn and
the vibe was very mellow and bluesy, very laid back.
With the help of Harp-L'er Christophe Minier of GOTOBUTTON BM_1_
www.harmonicasurcher.com (whom I look forward to meeting in a couple
weeks at the festival he's apparently helped put together in the Loire) I
was able to find two other great jams on the outskirts of Paris, in the
area called St. Ouen, really only a short Metro ride from my
centrally-located apartment near Notre Dame. After a one-kilometer walk
I was able to choose between L'Art Puces Cafe, At 17 Rue du Plaisir (what
an adress!) and the One Way Club, at 50 Rue Jules Valles.
These two joints were rockin' the blues real good.
I first went to the jam at L'Art Puces, hosted by Amar Sundy, a fine
guitarist and vocalist. I was told he spent 3 years with Albert King,
this from fine Spanish harp player Naco Goni, from Madrid. He played
wonderfully, very nice tone, fine melodic work and great rhythmic
support, and like most harp players he was very amiable. I had a few
beers with him and his wife, while their young daughter was serenaded by
a fun trombonist. Alas, the club-owner's mom had to be rushed to the
hospital, so they closed early, thus I didn't play (Amar was really nice
about it) but it's a great little venue, warm audience, nice room, with
candles and some bizarre homemade guitars and basses all along the walls,
good staff, etc.
The other joint, The One way Club, was really hoppin' when I got
there. Again, lots of horns (actually, mostly the same ones from L'Art
Puces) a great keyboardist, fine rhythm section and the leader was
another excellent guitarist/vocalist (Boney Fields?) who was welcoming
and let me sit in for a few songs. I had a lot of fun, the people were
very friendly and supportive, the room was really packed and convivial,
folks were dancing and fine singers were joining in.
It's sure nice to know the blues is alive in Paris, I had begun to have
some doubts but no more. Again France proves to be one of America's best
friends in a time of need.
Here's a repeat of my piece about the Apero Blues near the Bastille:
Thanks to Big Andy of the London Blues Jam E-list , I found what appears
to be the only real regular open blues jam in Paris, and it's on a Friday
night (6-9 pm) in a crowded litle pub near the Bastille. The genial host,
"CJ" did a great job of coordinating a large group of quite eager and
mostly quite talented blues hounds, running through blues classics, some
soul standards and a few rock pieces but mostly git-down blues. The
players were mostly mature, mostly quite experienced and all groovin'.
There were at least six horn players (alto, tenor, soprano, trombone,
etc.) trading off a few seats at a time, all of whom seemed quite
welcoming to my harmonica contributions, including traded horn-licks and
fills, and there were some other harp players (including CJ), a fair
share of fine, tight drummers and good, funky bassists, and some
kick-butt singers (including CJ) who sang blues like it should be sung,
with guts and comfort, in a welcoming and open group environment
reminiscent of "the good ol' days." I shared my Tom Austin mic around to
great satisfaction of the other harp players, and it was a welcoming
space to play in, for all.
I had to leave early, regrettably, after only about an hour or so, as I
had to meet family at a restaurant across town, but CJ admitted that this
was really the only such jam in town, which is a shame in a city as vast
as Paris. But it's a fine jam, by my lights, and I know where I'll be any
Friday evening I'm in Paris.
Aperoblues at 27 Rue de Cotte, near metro Ledu Rollin, off of Rue
Faubourg, Fridays 6-9.
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