A quick trip to Paris

ChrisMartin

Two weeks ago I had my reasons (personal tragedy) why I suddenly needed to get away and decided to get back to Paris at short notice, so booked the flights (24 hours plus from Australia). I checked into the hotel in Montparnasse I always use and contacted a couple of friends to catch up with.

Checked with a couple of online listings to see who was on but it did not work out so well.

Romain Vuillemin was playing at a bar in Belleville the day I arrived but due to flight delays I did not get to the hotel until early evening in dire need of a shower and clean up so I ran out of time for that one.

There was a listing for some GJ at a bar in La Marais on Monday evenings but when I found the address it was an Asian restaurant. I even checked around the side to make sure there was not another entrance to a basement bar or similar but no, it must have been an old out of date post.

Tuesday 21st Olli Soikkeli was playing at Chez Georges in the 6th arrondisement so I made sure to get there early only to be told tickets had to be bought online and were sold out. I had a beer anyway and when I stepped out in the street Olli was there talking to some folks so I told him I had just come all the way from Australia and could not get in. He went inside to ask if there was any way, but sadly was told they could not let one more person in. I thanked him and went back to the hotel.

Three strikes!

Called in at Monk La Taverne de Cluny a couple of times as they have a great choice of beers but there was no GJ going on.

So at least we can rely on La Chope des Puces and that weekend Steven Reinhardt was playing with Ezeckiel Krieff and a violinist named Mario. Sylvie even produced a little folding table just for me right front and center. I had seen Steven there a couple of years back with a different trio and had bought his excellent CD. Also they have Leffe beer on tap, another plus.

So the moral of this story? Planning ahead and checking with various venues in advance might save some wasted evenings. I am not complaining as I still had a great time even though it was just for a week this time, but when I am next over there (for a longer trip next April) I will be sure to confirm names, dates and places.

paulmcevoy75

Same thing happened to me at Chez Georges. The actual music space is in the basement in a "cave" I think they call it. It looks prehistoric. It's got a curved stone ceiling. It's the size of a bedroom. The door is small. It was packed with people. I got as far as the door and they told me it was sold out. To be honest, I wanted out of the room as soon as I got in there, I'm not normally claustrophobic but that room is intense.

But Marius Bojan was standing outside and I ended up talking to him and that ended up selling my guitar, so it worked out fortuitously.

Sorry you didn't get to hear more music. Did you check out the parisjazz website?

ChrisMartin

Yes, I did go down there, and bumped my head under that low arch! And I do suffer claustrophobia so it may be for the best I did not stay. Yeah, I checked with a few listings websites, but re the Olli gig, there were no links to say I had to book tickets online. Oh well, at least I learn from mistakes. Also Stochelo was playing at Sunset the night before I left but I guessed that would have been sold out anyway and as I had to get up at 4am for an early flight I could not have gone. Anyway, it was a bit rash going for just one week (I had my reasons) and I am usually better prepared. Back in April when I will have more time.

billyshakes

That was a stand-up thing for Olli to try to look out for you!

flaco

Sorry to hear about the tragedy! I had a similar experience several years ago trying to find an Irish session in London. There were website listings and when I would show up the people would look at me like I was crazy. The last night I was tired and prepping for an early flight, but I forced myself to try one last time and ended up finding a great place (The Auld Shillelagh). Our lives revolve around these fringe scenes, but even in the original cities it’s such a small fraction of people who are into it.

ChrisMartin

Yeah I get that but Paris does generally have a strong following for the GJ style and it often even creeps into to more modern pop music so there is plenty of work for the musicians.

paulmcevoy75

I've never not found something music wise to see every night I'm there. But I'm open to seeing straight ahead jazz, which is excellent in Paris as well (more expensive to see). I think there was one night out of 12 I didn't go out but maybe I wasn't feeling so hot.

I'm definitely open to randomly trying something. The standards of music in Paris are so high it's worth it. I caught this guy Khalil Chahine at Sunset one night. It's funny, I'd seen his face on promos pretty much every time I was there. For some reason that put me off (stupid reason)...like he's playing too much. Anyway, I saw a picture of him with a chromatic harmonica and that's always something I'm interested in.

Anyway, I went to see him and it was just an absurdly good show. Kind of a mix of fusion/arabic music/rock/jazz. Very pretty but sophisticated. The musicians in the band were absolutely top notch. He played minimal harmonica but is such a good guitar player, sort of in the Larry Carlton mold if I had to guess.

I have a little practice now and know a bit more about where stuff is. There's a lot of stuff that seems to go unadvertised, particularly little cafe gigs. Daniel John Martin seems to play constantly and I think posts stuff on his instagram that doesn't necessarily get promoted that much. He was absurdly hospitable to me and if you can catch up with him he will tell you what's going on where. Marius seems to play somewhere at least every other night.

This is Khalil...it's very smooth music but super sophisticated:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-DYwVyl-d5M&si=OBQpmGgnDMZIkxsx