By Nick Catalano
May 11th - at the Duc des Lombards. The left bank may be the traditional home of jazz clubs but this wood-paneled, velvet seated club is firmly on the right bank in the Les Halles district. I was beginning to wonder if I would catch any Americans on this trip and discovered that this night Jon Hendricks would perform with a large group. Inside the set opens with the traditional rhythm section selection and as I listen to pianist Arnaud Mattei, bassist Bruno Rousselet and drummer Benjamin Henock I wonder if any deep-rooted swing will emanate. It does not.
Soon a jam-packed audience begins the traditional idolatrous applause as a gold lame-clad Hendricks trots onto the stage. As I scan the audience faces I, once again, feel the almost religious fervor that the french have for American jazz. Hendricks feels it too -- he is sky-high and moving like a teenager (he is eighty as of this writing) as he interacts smoothly with the worshipful crowd.
Hendricks is in France on a trip set up by the University of Toledo (his hometown) and the Sorbonne. He is currently a professor of "Vocalese Studies" at Toledo giving performances and lectures. His daughter Michele, who lives in Paris, is performing with him. The set commences with "Everyday I have the Blues." The crowd is ecstatic. In his 'tween tune patter Hendricks tells the audience of his stint with Tatum when he was fourteen and then introduces a 12-member group of his students from Toledo which he has dubbed the "Vocalstra." The group performs "My Ship," "Estate," and then segues into "April in Paris" which sends the audience into hysterics. Michele sings a Horace Silver tune and after a couple of exciting duets with Dad the set ends with the Hendricks signature tune "Cloudburst."
After the set I ascend to Jon's dressing room where I hang and listen to Michele's knowledgeable commentary on the Paris jazz scene. "I sometimes work down the street at Sunside," (60 Rue des Lombard - a few doors from Duc des Lombards) she says, "but other clubs where Americans have been playing (La Villa and Latitude) closed recently."
The evening ends with gaiety and laughter. What's not to be happy about? The Hendrickses have sold out three shows and the door turns away wannabes all evening long.
There are other clubs I wish to visit on this trip to Paris. I notice, for instance, that New Morning on the Rue des Petites Ecuries will host Omar Sosa next week. My mind drifts back many years to this bandstand where Stan Getz did a memorable live recording with Jim McNeely, Marc Johnson and Victor Lewis. Entitled, "Live at the New Morning" on Dreyfus Records the CD features intros in French by Stan and some spectacular music i.e. "Airegin," "Tempus Fugit" and "Blue Skies." I check my diary and am incredulous when I discover this CD was recorded in 1982.
I try to remember what my reactions were to the Paris scene those long decades ago. I know for sure that everybody was rapturous even at a mere mention of performers who would soon perform.
Clubs open and close and new generations beam into existence but one thing is certain - Paris cannot get enough jazz and its appetite will not be satiated any time soon.
