Is This Henri Salvador?

spatzo · June 2012

I think that Vola is on the left at the right of the girl wearing glasses

Teddy Dupont · June 2012

spatzo wrote:

I think that Vola is on the left at the right of the girl wearing glasses

Yes. That's him.

Teddy Dupont · June 2012

François Ravez has pointed out that if you reverse the photo, you can see the sign says "Chez DRAPIER" but he has not been able to find any reference to it as a cafe, restaurant, cabaret or night club and Jean Rousseau did not list it as a place where jazz was played. He also suggested one of the musicians may be Ernest Léardée.

As Scot pointed out, Henri Salvador left France in late 1941 and as Schulz-Koehn did not arrive in Paris until 1942, it does seem a little unlikely that the guy in the photo is Salvador.

Svanis1337 · June 2012

The other sign on the photo says "New Comedy Cinema" (Nouvelle Comedie Cinema).

[url]http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/36828[/url]

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"Located in the Montmartre district of Paris. Originally built as a cafe/concert hall prior to 1892, and known as Le Divan Japonais. It was one of the haunts of famed artist Toulouse Lautrec. The seating is located on orchestra and balcony levels.

Later converted into a cinema, by 1946 it was known as the Nouvelle Comedie. Last known as the Amsterdam Pigalle, it was closed as a cinema (possibly screening adult films) in the late-1980’s.

For several years it has now operated as a nightclub, known as Le Divan du Monde, catering for indie rock, punk music fans"
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The 1946 date might be wrong then, and if so the building was converted into a cinema a couple years earlier during the war. unless this photo was actually taken in 1946. The photo was said to be taken at La Cigale. These two buildings, Nouvelle Comedie Cinema and La Cigale are located extremely close to eachother, see for yourselves here:

Cinema:
[url]http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/36828/map[/url]

La Cigale:
[url]https://maps.google.se/maps?hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&q=la+cigale&fb=1&gl=se&hq=la+cigale&cid=0,0,9889185592048917657&ei=TXLaT-mwIKWl4gT5pO3cAw&ved=0CBAQ_BIwAA[/url]

Thus this photo was taken outside the Nouvelle Comedie Cinema, or a short walk down the street from the Cinema, which isn't really at La Cigale but very, very close nearby!

Upon closer inspection of the photo, they must've come from Boulevard de Clichy, stopped at the corner of Boulevard de Clichy and Rue des Martyrs and taken the photo there. Nouvelle Comedie Cinema would be on the left side of that street then behind Django & co. and that's exactly where the sign is on the photo so it makes perfect sense. La Cigale is down Boulevard de Rochechouart off to the right of the photo. Django and Co. are standing on the sidewalk, and the cameraman that took the photo is standing in the middle of the crossroads. The soldier to the right in the background is standing in the middle of the road that would be the street of Rue des Martyrs.

I'm pretty confident that this is where the photo was taken. Perhaps not exactly the spot but around the vicinity.

Here's a Google 3D View of the place the photo was taken, click around to move. You can see just how close Le Cigale is to Nouvelle Comedie Cinema. (Now called Le Divan du Monde) Wow!

[url]http://goo.gl/maps/J2SM[/url]

Teddy Dupont · June 2012

NIce bit of detective work Svanis.

spatzo · June 2012

I guess the place could be "Chez Graff" that was 92 Boulevard de Clichy near Place Blanche

but I see no evidence

spatzo · June 2012

Now I am sure that Mr. François Ravez was right: the name is DRAPIER! but honestly it was hard to read it at least on the bad resolution photo I have.

It was "Chez Drapier" that is to say the name of the club that became "La Cigale" when Pierre Remerand bought the place at Mr. Drapier just after the war. The place was frequented by many german soldiers during the occupation.

Information found from Fremeaux :

http://www.fremeaux.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.livrets&content_id=3746&product_id=1040&category_id=64

"Al Lirvat (famous trombone player) played at La Cigale for a month. For the first time of his life, he was not any more simple musician but a leader and an arranger of a jazz band. He had been hired by Pierre Rémérand, the new manager who, in October 1951, had acquired the business of "Father Drapier", creator of the formula during the German occupation. Al Lirvat succeeded the American trumpeter Jack Butler and he had kept a part of his orchestra: the pianist Pierre Jean-Louis, the saxophonist viola(alto) Childebert Mourinet, both inhabitants of Guadeloupe, and especially fabulous clarinettist and saxophonist Benny Waters, 53-year-old, major figure of the " Golden Swing Era " in the United States from 1925 till 1942..."

Bones · June 2012

But what I really want to know is who is the Nazi? A music fan or making sure the gypsies don't try to escape. He looks kind of grim in the photo.

As far as Ferret's solo, it seems like he didn't quite pull off what he was going for but I am interested in what sounds like a sweep technique that he is using.

Teddy Dupont · June 2012

Bones wrote:

But what I really want to know is who is the Nazi? A music fan or making sure the gypsies don't try to escape. He looks kind of grim in the photo.

It is Dr Dietrich Schulz-Koehn, a jazz fan and Luftwaffe officer who helped protect Django during the war. He first went to Paris in 1936 when he met Delaunay and watched the Quintette record and then returned in 1942 as part of the occupation forces.