Big Blog #2 French Jazz

As I was deciding which culture I wanted to learn more about and share I immediately thought of France. I took French in high school and am taking it at now. Both of my French teachers have always included French music in their lessons and I enjoy it very much. Well, there's so much music in France, French classical music, French folk music, French popular music and many more. I found an article on the history of Jazz in Paris and was hooked. The article mentioned things I've learned in my French and history classes. I find it very interesting and hope you do too.  

Charles Trenet

History of Jazz in France

During WWI black American soldiers from the 369th Harlem Infantry Regiment were stationed in Paris, France. They, along with their music filled the streets and countrysides of France. That music was Jazz and it was something new and exciting for those living in wartorn france. After the war, Jazz became very popular and musicians and audiences filled the city's cabarets and clubs to hear the music being performed. In France this time after WWI became known as “les années folles,” the crazy years of the 1920s. “Club owners and club-goers from all over the world couldn’t get enough of the syncopated rhythms. Numerous local musicians, on the other hand, weren’t thrilled to be pressured into learning this foreign American music.” (The Good Life France) 

Jazz Clubs begin popping up all over Paris during this time. Hughes Panassié and Charles Delauney formed “Jazz Hot Club” to promote jazz in France and abroad. They invited eager young musicians into their space where they could try out the new sounds and meet the American masters. Two of their students, Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, formed the first real French jazz band, the Jazz Hot Quintet, and toured the regions in the 30s, spreading the jazz gospel.

Quintette Hot Club de France

Before WWII American performers were forced back home due to the depression and Nazi occupation of Paris. Local musicians experimented with their own sound until Nazi forces outlawed the palying of jazz music or any foriegn influences. That didn't stop the Parisian fans and their new sound. They set up underground gatherings in sound proof cellars to continue to play the music they loved. Song titles were changed and many artists went under a pseudonym. “Nuages” became the soundtrack of French resistance.

After the war youth flocked to Paris and filled Jazz Clubs. African American Jazz musicians went back to France to escape segregation and discrimination in the United States. Jazz was thriving in Paris, and still is today. Jazz clubs and festivals are very popular .

Instruments of French Jazz

The Accordion

The accordion was invented by Friedrich Buschmann in 1822 in berlin, it was called the Handaoline. In 1829 in Vienna, Cyrillus Damin created another version with the addition of buttons that sounded chords, and called it the Accordion. The accordion is a portable wind instrument with two reed organs connected by bellows. Expanding and contraction the bellows causes air to vibrate and the organs produce sound. There is a keyboard for playing the melody and buttons play other notes and chords. The accordion is often used in Jazz music. Here is a video where you can see and hear the accordion being played.

 

The Double Bass

“In most jazz styles its task is the accentuation of the beat, which is generally achieved by the slap bass technique. In later styles it swings and “wanders”, playing a melody line of its own contrivance (walking bass) as a counter melody. Rapid tempos, playing in the highest register and advanced playing techniques have become standard in modern jazz styles.”(Vienna Symphonic Library) In this video you can see the Bass and the Accordion, and hear a song by a very popular artist Charles Trenet.

Popular Songs and Artists

Here are some popular Jazz songs and artists. Josephine Baker is an American but moved to France like many American musicians after the world wars. Jazz music and musicians have overcome a lot in France, but it still remains very popular today. Today there are many jazz festivals held each year in Paris and other places in France. The underground jazz clubs are still open and are popular tourist attractions. Jazz is often played on the streets of paris and is known as the “sound of summertime” in Paris.

Works Used:

“Accordion.” OnMusic Dictionary - Term, https://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/70-accordion. 

“Double Bass - History.” History - Vienna Symphonic Library, https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Double_bass/History/. 

Fancourt, Daisy. “The Double Life of French Jazz.” The Double Life of French Jazz, https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/resistance-and-exile/french-resistance/double-life-of-french-jazz/. 

Fuller-Love, Heidi. “Icons: The Accordion.” Complete France, 12 Nov. 2020, https://www.completefrance.com/travel/activities/what-makes-the-accordion-a-french-icon-6298592. 

Le Nevez, Cathrine. “Rhapsody in Bleu: A History of Jazz in Paris.” Lonely Planet, 8 July 2021, https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/rhapsody-bleu-century-jazz-paris. Writer, Guest. “The 

History of Jazz in Paris.” The Good Life France, 13 Feb. 2020, https://thegoodlifefrance.com/the-history-of-jazz-in-paris/.