Frank Ténot (31 October 1925 – 8 January 2004) was a French press agent, pataphysician, and

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

critic. He managed a number of publications over the course of his long association with

Daniel Filipacchi Daniel Filipacchi (born 12 January 1928) is the Chairman Emeritus of Hachette Filipacchi Médias and a French collector of surrealist art. Career Filipacchi wrote and worked as a photographer for '' Paris Match'' from its founding in 1949 b ...

, a publisher of multiple magazines who had started as a photographer and jazz expert. Together they founded the influential radio show ''Salut les copains'', featuring rock and roll, and the spin-off magazine of the same name. It was later renamed as ''Salut!''.

Life

Ténot discovered jazz in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in 1944, where he became president of the Hot Club of France. Based in Paris after World War II, he was employed at the Commission for Atomic Energy, and as a copy editor at the magazine ''Jazz Hot'', alongside

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of th ...

. Together the two men discovered 'Pataphysics. In the 1950s, he worked at the French Club label, with

, then a press photographer. He also worked with him at ''Jazz Magazine''. Until his death in 2004, Ténot wrote a regular column in ''Jazzman'' and ''Jazz Magazine''. He and Filipacchi hosted a radio show on

Europe 1 Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...

, ''For Those Who Love Jazz'', for sixteen years, from 1955 to 1971. In 1959, he began airing ''Hi folks'', which was highly successful with youth and resulted in the development of a magazine of the same name. The two partners created a media group that included ''Lui, Pariscope, Union'' and ''Photo''. They bought ''Paris Match'' in 1976 before joining forces with Matra and taking control of creating the

Hachette Filipacchi Médias Hachette Filipacchi Médias, S.A. (HFM) is a magazine publisher. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Active, a division of the media conglomerate Lagardère Group of France. History '' Hachette'' was founded by Louis Hachette (Fre ...

. By 1986, Ténot participated in the creation of the Europe 2. In 1999, he was a co-founder of TSF Jazz with Jean-François Bizot. With his partner Daniel Filipacchi, Tenot tried to succeed in writing song lyrics. They published under the pseudonym Daniel Frank: their Lil 'Darlin' was sung by

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of an Indigen ...

on air and accompanied by

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

. They also wrote the song ''Panne d'essence'' for

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian on 15 August 1944) is a Bulgarians in France, Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. Her performances often featured ela ...

, under the pseudonym Dan Frank. They produced concerts of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, and Sylvie Vartan at the Olympia theatre in Paris. Ténot presided over a management company, founded Éditions du Layeur, and was named "Provveditore" College Pataphysique. Elected as mayor of the town of Marnay-sur-Seine in 1995, Ténot served until 2001. The Foundation Ténot was involved in supporting artistic creation with the art center CAMAC in Marnay-sur-Seine.

Works

* ''Dictionnaire du jazz,'' 1967 * ''Radios privées, radios pirates,'' 1977 * ''Jazz encyclopoche'', 1977 * ''Le jazz'', 1983 * ''Boris Vian Jazz à Saint-Germain'', 1993 * ''Je voulais en savoir davantage'', 1997 * ''Frankly speaking : chroniques de jazz, de 1944 à 2004'', 2002

References

20th-century French journalists 20th-century French publishers (people) French music critics Jazz writers 1925 births 2004 deaths Writers from Mulhouse French magazine publishers (people) Pataphysicians French male non-fiction writers French radio presenters 20th-century French male writers Mass media people from Mulhouse {{france-journalist-stub