Festival du Jazz

I didn’t know what to expect. I’d seen the posters smeared across almost every public surface in Paris, from construction sites to metro stations, and was eager to see what is was all about. Last night, I did.


Eric Truffaz, an trumpeter with an innovative approach to jazz, performed with Pierre Henri, an 80-year-old “composer” with an interesting sound at the Cité de la Musique, and I was there.

The setting is incredible. Living in the urban density of Paris, I was shocked to take the metro just a few stops north of my apartment to a wide open space that houses enormous halls and elaborate fountains. In the summer, they project movies on the bare walls of the buildings; all year long people of all ages, backgrounds, interests, etc flock here for music inside and out. Some of the buildings are saved from a classical era long gone; others are modern or built in a similar style to the Eiffel Tower. They’re mixed together, old and new, and it is beautiful. The Seine still runs here and was once used to bring grain to the giant mill north of the city; today the river is tranquil and only adds a feeling of serenity amongst the fields of grass and squares of stone. I should have taken pictures.

We found ourselves in a large auditorium looking down at the performers in awe. The music—well, I’ll recommend Truffaz to almost anyone. Henri had some passion for using a slamming door sound effect in his remixes. I’m not sure it worked. But it was an experience.

My favorite part, of course, was dinner afterwards. Sitting outside in the largest stone square, we watched the fountain run, drank red wine, talked with the other concert-goers who were equally shocked by the door.

It was fun.

I’m too tired to be coherent now, but I wanted to capture the logistics, the names, the places. It’s definitely worth doing again.