Avalon Jazz Band - Paris (2019)

A hot jazz celebration of Paris explored through the musical style reminiscent of Django and Grappelli
Paris: where does the city end, where does the fantasy begin? I could never tell. I was brought up on the dream of a time-traveling city, haunted by the ghosts of Sainte-Geneviève, D’Artagnan, Camille Desmoulins, Arthur Rimbaud, Toulouse-Lautrec, the Zazous, a city always rebellious and bohemian, ever feeding on its own myth, the Paris of Haussman, Eiffel, Sartre and Vian, building over the relics and legends of catacombs, medieval labyrinths and Roman ruins. When I moved to Paris as a young adolescent, I was determined to cling to that fantasy and I was rewarded with more than I ever could have dreamed of. I settled in a nest on the stairs of Montmartre and was soon nicknamed ‘Gavroche’.
Inspired to lead an unabashed romantic lifestyle, I searched for the Paris of songs, novels and postcards in the dusty bookstores and cafés of the Latin Quarter, the Sorbonne library, the thirteen bridges around the Cité and Saint-Louis islands, roaming the métro corridors with Gypsies after closing hours and strolling through the empty night with old philosophers who had known Aragon, Colette and Utrillo, pointing out places where so-and-so had been murdered or kissed... but most of all the winding streets and endless stairs of Montmartre, where there was always a song, always a poem, always another bottle of wine, where my friends and I effortlessly lived out our Poulbot fantasies.
This compilation of songs is a tribute to my years spent exploring the different faces of Paris, where the city was my romantic playground, where I learned that if you believe strong enough, you don’t need to choose between reality and fancy, you can have it all. Here is a musical postcard of my Paris, with songs from previous dreamers Trenet, Misraki, Kosma, Vian..., not the classics you usually hear, but unknown treasures that had to be carefully excavated.

Tracklist

01. Swing rêverie
02. Les oiseaux de Paris
03. Place blanche
04. Belleville
05. Utrillo
06. Paris je t’aime
07. Chanson pour Guillaume
08. Le petit cheval
09. Romance
10. Paris au mois de Septembre
11. Bébert d’Anvers
12. Venez donc chez moi
13. Quel temps fait-il à Paris?