Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music has been popular in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

since the 1920s. Its international popularity peaked in the 1930s, and it has been continually enjoyed since.

History

Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a number of American expatriates settled in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and began to build up a jazz scene. France did not suffer from racial discrimination as much as the US, so a mixture of musical styles from different cultures began to emerge. As with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, the French were at first concerned it was too American of an influence before "making it their own." Although in the case of the French the adjustment proved faster as by the 1930s jazz had become acceptable. Between the 1930s and 1950s, the

biguine Biguine ( , ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, bigin) is a rhythm-centric style of music that originated from Saint Pierre, Martinique in the 19th century. It fuses Bèlè and 19th-century French ballroom dance steps with African rhythms. History ...

, a style of jazz from the

French Caribbean The French West Indies or French Antilles (french: Antilles françaises, ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy fwansez) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, ...

was popular among dance orchestras. Lacking recognition at home, several biguine artists from

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

moved to mainland

, where they achieved greater popularity in Paris, especially in the wake of the colonial exhibition in 1931. Early stars like Alexandre Stellio and

Sam Castandet Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

became popular in

. An important event in that is the creation of the

Quintette du Hot Club de France The Quintette du Hot Club de France ("The Quintet of the Hot Club of France"), often abbreviated "QdHCdF" or "QHCF", was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli and active in one form ...

in 1934. This is among the most significant jazz groups in European histor

Starting in the late 1940s the

Le Caveau de la Huchette Le Caveau de la Huchette is a jazz club in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The building dates to the 16th century, but became a jazz club in 1949. The design has been compared to a cellar or labyrinth, and allegedly it was once used by Rosicrucians a ...

would become an important place for French and American jazz musicians. Many American jazz artists have lived in France from

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

. These Americans would have an influence on French jazz, but at the same time French jazz had its own inspirations as well. For example,

Bal-musette Bal-musette is a style of French instrumental music and dance that first became popular in Paris in the 1880s. Although it began with bagpipes as the main instrument, this instrument was replaced with accordion, on which a variety of waltzes, polkas ...

had some influence on France's form of ''

Gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a style of small-group jazz originating from the Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–53), in conjunction with the French swing violinist Stéphane Gr ...

''. Similarly, the violin, and to an extent the guitar, were traditionally more popular in French jazz than American. Related to that,

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz violinist and composer. Early life Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano. At sixteen, he was admitt ...

and

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the firs ...

are among the most well-respected violinists in the history of jazz. That stated, the violin is also popular in Eastern European jazz.

French jazz musicians

Sophie Alour Sophie Alour (born 24 December 1974) is a French jazz musician who plays saxophone, clarinet, and flute. Biography Alour started playing the clarinet at the music school in Quimper, when she was 13 years of age. When she was 19, she started t ...

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

Franck Amsallem Franck Amsallem is a French-American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, singer and educator. He was born in 1961 in Oran, French Algeria, but grew up in Nice, France. Early years Amsallem was born in Oran (Algeria) to Elie Amsallem (1922-2019) a ...

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

* Lionel Belmondo *

Michel Benita Michel Benita at ''INNtöne Jazzfestival'' in 2019 Michel Benita (born 1954 in Algiers, Algeria) is a double bass player, prominent in jazz music since 1980's. He moved to Paris in 1981 and became one of the major discoveries in European jazz ...

* Airelle Besson *

Claude Bolling Claude Bolling (10 April 1930 – 29 December 2020) was a French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor. Biography He was born in Cannes, France, and studied at the Conservatory of Nice, Nice Conservatory, and then in Paris. A c ...

*Laurent Coulondre * Benoit Delbecq * David El Malek * Laika Fatien *

Richard Galliano Richard Galliano (born 12 December 1950, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes) is a French accordionist of Italian heritage. Allmusic biography/ref> Biography He was drawn to music at an early age, starting with the accordion at 4, influenced by his father ...

Jef Gilson Jean-François Quiévreux (25 July 1926 – 5 February 2012), better known as Jef Gilson, was a French clarinetist, pianist, arranger, vocalist, composer and big band leader. "In the occupation of which he initiated groups" proved Gilson "an ex ...

* Olivier Hutman * Christian Jacob *

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

Didier Lockwood Didier Lockwood (11 February 1956 – 18 February 2018) was a French violinist. He played in the French rock band Magma in the 1970s, and was known for his use of electric amplification and his experimentation with different sounds on the electri ...

Eddy Louiss Eddy Louiss (2 May 1941 – 30 June 2015) was a French jazz musician. Eddy started playing in his father Pierre's orchestra in the 1950s. Pierre changed the family name from Louise to Louiss. As a vocalist, he was a member of Les Double Six of ...

Jacques Loussier Jacques Loussier (26 October 1934 – 5 March 2019) was a French pianist and composer. He arranged jazz interpretations of many of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, such as the ''Goldberg Variations''. The Jacques Loussier Trio, founded in 19 ...

Bernard Lubat Bernard Lubat (born July 12, 1945, Uzeste) is a French jazz drummer, pianist, singer, percussionist, vibraphonist, and accordionist. Lubat grew up in a musical family (his father played trumpet) and he received formal training at the Bordeaux C ...

Ibrahim Maalouf Ibrahim Maalouf ( ar, ابراهيم معلوف, ; born 5 November 1980 in Beirut) is a French-Lebanese trumpeter, producer, arranger, and composer. In 2022, he became the first Lebanese instrumentalist nominated at the Grammy Awards for his albu ...

Pierre Michelot Pierre Michelot (3 March 1928 – 3 July 2005) was a French jazz double bass player and arranger. Early life Michelot was born in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris on 3 March 1928. He studied piano from 1936 until 1938. He switched to playi ...

Alain Mion Alain Mion (born January 14, 1947 in Casablanca) is a French pianist, composer, arranger, and jazz singer. Musical career Influenced by Bobby Timmons, Ray Charles and Les McCann, his style varies between jazz, soul jazz and "funky music". He c ...

* Francois Moutin * Leila Olivesi * Xavier Desandre Navarre *

Vincent Peirani Vincent Peirani (born 24 April 1980) is a French jazz accordionist, vocalist and composer who has played internationally, collaborating with Denis Colin, François Jeanneau, Youn Sun Nah, Émile Parisien, Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, and Micha ...

Michel Petrucciani Michel Petrucciani (; ; 28 December 1962 – 6 January 1999) was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. He became one of the most accomplish ...

Guillaume Perret Guillaume Perret (; born 21 June 1980 in Annecy) is a French jazz musician (tenor saxophone and soprano saxophone, also keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the sof ...

Jean-Michel Pilc Jean-Michel Pilc (born October 19, 1960, in Paris, France) is a jazz pianist, composer and educator currently living in Montreal, Canada. Music career A native of Paris, Pilc moved to New York City in 1995. He started a trio with drummer Ari ...

Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on ...

Henri Renaud Henri Renaud (20 April 1925, in Villedieu-sur-Indre, France – 17 October 2002, in Paris) was a French jazz pianist, record producer and record company executive. His styles reflected the decades when he was musically active: he played in the sw ...

Louis Sclavis Louis Sclavis (born 2 February 1953) is a French jazz musician. He performs on clarinet, bass clarinet, and soprano saxophone in a variety of contexts, including avant-garde jazz, free jazz, free improvisation and contemporary classical. Life ...

Martial Solal Martial Solal (born August 23, 1927) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Biography Solal was born in Algiers, French Algeria, to Algerian Jewish parents. He was persuaded to study clarinet, saxophone, and piano by his mother, who was an opera ...

Jacky Terrasson Jacky Terrasson (born November 27, 1965) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Background Terrasson's mother is African-American from Georgia, and his father is French. From his parents he heard classical music as a child. He began piano lesson ...

Scott Tixier Scott Tixier (born February 26, 1986) is a French jazz violinist and professor of jazz violin at the University of North Texas. Life and career Tixier was born in Montreuil, France, and studied classical violin at the conservatory in Paris. ...

* Baptiste Trotignon *

Erik Truffaz Erik Truffaz (born 3 April 1960 in Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland) is a French jazz trumpeter, infusing elements of hip hop, rock and roll and dance music into his compositions. Early life Truffaz was introduced to music by his father, a saxoph ...

René Urtreger René Urtreger (born July 6, 1934) is a French bebop pianist. Early life Urtreger was born in Paris and began his piano studies at the age of four, studying privately first, and then at the Conservatory. He studied with an orientation toward jaz ...

Maurice Vander Maurice Vanderschueren, better known as Maurice Vander (born 11 June 1929, Vitry-sur-Seine, died 16 February 2017, Montmorillon ) was a French jazz keyboardist. Vander worked in the 1950s with Don Byas, Django Reinhardt, Bobby Jaspar, Jimmy Raney ...

* Christian Vander *

Barney Wilen Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen (4 March 1937 – 25 May 1996) was a French tenor and soprano saxophonist and jazz composer. Life Wilen was born in Nice, France; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. He began ...

Jazz festivals in France

* Banlieues Bleues in

Seine-Saint-Denis () is a department of France located in the Grand Paris metropolis in the region. In French, it is often referred to colloquially as ' or ' ("ninety-three" or "nine three"), after its official administrative number, 93. Its prefecture is Bobigny ...

* Blues Passions Cognac in

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cog ...

* Europa Jazz Festival in

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

* Festival International Django Reinhardt in

Samois sur Seine Samois-sur-Seine (, ) is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located near Fontainebleau. Culture It is famous for being the town to which Django Reinhardt retired, and hosts ...

Jazz à Juan Jazz à Juan is an annual jazz festival in Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France. New Orleans, Louisiana, widely recognized as the "Birthplace of Jazz," is a sister city, and as a result, carnival festivities in Juan-les-Pins, including both local and N ...

Antibes Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of ...

* Jazz aux Remparts in

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

Jazz à Vienne Jazz à Vienne is a Jazz Festival in Vienne, Isère, near Lyon, France. The festival has been held since 1981 in the months of June and July for two weeks. Every evening during the festival, there are concerts in the ancient Roman theater of Vie ...

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.
* Jazz en tête in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

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*

Jazz in Marciac Jazz in Marciac (JIM) is a jazz festival that takes place over a period of three weeks, usually from late July to mid-August in Marciac, Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and ...

Marciac Marciac (, , ) is a commune in the Gers department, Occitania, southwestern France. It is known for its annual international festival Jazz in Marciac, which runs for a fortnight every summer. Geography History The name of this Bastide was ...

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*

Jazz sous les pommiers Jazz sous les pommiers ("Jazz under the apple trees") is an annual week-long jazz festival in Coutances, France. The festival was first held in 1982, and is usually staged during the Feast of the Ascension The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesu ...

Coutances Coutances () is a Communes of France, commune in the Manche Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in north-western France. History Capital of the Unelli, a Gauls, Gaulish tribe, the town was given the n ...

* Jazz sur son 31 in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

JVC Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

* La Villette Jazz Festival in

Les nuits du Jazz in Nantes
*

Musiques Métisses Musiques Métisses is an annual French music festival held in early summer. The festival was created in 1976 by Christian Mousset in Angoulême, France. In 2015, the American author Eddy L.Harris took over as president of the festival. History ...

in Angoulème * Musiques de Jazz et d'ailleurs in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

* Nancy Jazz Pulsations in Nancy *

Nice Jazz Festival The Nice Jazz Festival (, ), held annually since 1948 in Nice, on the French Riviera, is "the first jazz festival of international significance." At the inaugural festival, Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were the headliners. Frommer's calls it ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

Paris Jazz Festival Paris Jazz Festival is a jazz festival in Paris, France, established in 1994. History The Paris Jazz Festival was founded in the spring of 1994 by Franck Marchal and Olivier Bastardie. It was meant from the start to become a major event in th ...

in the

Bois de Vincennes The Bois de Vincennes (), located on the eastern edge of Paris, is the largest public park in the city. It was created between 1855 and 1866 by Emperor Napoleon III. The park is next to the Château de Vincennes, a former residence of the King ...

* Reims Jazz Festival in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

* Sons d'hiver in

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a pop ...

* Tourcoing Jazz Festival in

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a Communes of France, commune within the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), ...

* Uzeste Musical in Uzeste

References

Citations Sources *

History

French jazz musicians

Jazz festivals in France

References

Further reading