"Classic jazz recorded in Paris, both by French artists and visiting Americans... This is a solid set for old-school jazz fans, although I was disappointed it didn't have a more "local" flavor... I was hoping for a heftier dose of gypsy jazz and Pills & Tabet-style hepcat swing. Indeed, a lone track by Jacques Pills was pretty much the only French-language vocal track on the entire album(!) and while this disc faithfully tracks the penetration of jazz into the Parisian nightlife -- from the jittery rhythms of the early '20s through the jumping dance bands of the '30s and the cool and bebop camps -- it's mostly a parade of instrumental performances imitative of and in thrall to the American model. There's also a healthy brace of tracks laid down by American jazzcats such as Erroll Garner, Jonah Jones, Bud Powell, Sammy Price, Zoot Sims, et al., with song titles such as "Headin' For Paris," "Eiffel Tower," "Stridin' Down The Champs-Elysees," etc. One gem is a 1937 recording of "Hangin' Around Boudon," by Dicky Wells and his band, where Django Reinhardt takes a fine solo; also noteworthy are contributions by guitarist Sarane Ferre (a top-flight Django wannabee) and Jerry Mengo, who makes several appearances both as a composer and as a semi-anonymous bandmember... I fell for a few tunes, and there are plenty of rarities included here (for the completists among us...) but if you're not a devoted jazz fan, there's also a lot of the tedium associated with the genre -- most of it sounds like stuff we've all heard before. Where are ze theeck accents and ooh-la-las? Guess I'll have to stick with that old Johnny Hess and Charles Trenet stuff!"
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
