Officially, there are no Americans in the French Foreign Legion—la Légion Etrangère—that legendary volunteer combat assault group comprised of 9000 men from 150 countries, each man with a past more mysterious, more shadowy, more enigmatic than the next. Americans aren’t typically allowed to fight under the flag of another country. So no Americans—officially. Yet among the legionnaires, there are some men with distinctly American accents who are said to be from Micronesia. So said General Alain Lardet, commander of the Foreign Legion, when I inquired over a glass of Légion Etrangère Côtes de Provence red wine at the Invalides.

You don’t have the security clearance for me to relate the full details of our conversation—kidding—but I am authorized to write that among the highly trained combatants of the Foreign Legion, 64 men also have musical talent. And you—without having to declare that you hail from Micronesia—can enlist as a spectator to see and hear them perform at the Legion’s charity concert that will take place on June 18 at the Paris concert hall L’Olympia.

The Foreign Legion holds a unique place within France’s national and military heritage due to both the reality and the fantasy of the corps. The reality itself is always clouded in an air of mystery about these men, with their white kepis and their world full of accents, who have made a 5+-year commitment to fight for France. That then opens the doors to the fantasy of the larger-then-life characters presented in French and foreign film, books and song, of men at once hardened, seductive, unfathomable, honorable and resolute. What intrigues the public about the Foreign Legion, both as reality and as fantasy, is the opportunity that the Legion offers men to leave behind their past.

Leaving behind the past is only the first part of the equation, as engagement in the Foreign Legion initiates a process of renewing and redirecting oneself with “honor and fidelity,” the watchwords of a legionnaire’s commitment. “That’s the secret of the Legion,” said General Lardet, “restarting, rebooting, getting back on one’s feet.” The Legion’s motto: Legio patria nostra—the Legion is our fatherland.

Listening to General Lardet speak of his relationship with the men under his responsibility is like hearing a firm and caring father speak of his children, treating them with “authority and goodwill because the legionnaire needs both.”

“[Bringing together] 150 nationalities and mentalities and cultures that are foreign to each other,” he said, “requires solidarity in order to function. The Legion’s solidarity is nearly the motor of its operational capacity. Our institution depends on a contract between a foreigner who signs a voluntary commitment to France and the Legion that receives him and provides an equally strong commitment. If you serve the Foreign Legion’s code of honor, the Foreign Legion will support you regardless of what happens.”

While the Foreign Legion is financed by the French Army, funding for additional social and welfare assistance, such as caring for the orphaned children of deceased legionnaires, reuniting families, assisting former legionnaires, etc., requires outside support and donations. Recently, that additional funding has been used to bring 40 families (about 100 people) of Ukrainian legionnaires to France from the war zones in their country. (Because of their commitment to France, Ukrainian legionnaires are not allowed to join their national army in fighting against Russia.)

The June 18 program

While the June 18 concert in Paris and other events held by the Foreign Legion throughout the year, help maintain public awareness of this unique institution, the upcoming concert in particular also serves as a fundraiser for the Legion’s social and welfare assistance project for current and retired legionnaires and their families.

The 2-hour concert will be performed twice on June 18. The first performance, at 2PM, is largely intended for the general public, though a group of non-participating legionnaires will also be in attendance. At the second performance, at 6PM, sponsors, donors, honored and official guests, and hundreds of legionnaires will comprise the bulk of the audience, however seating for the general public is also available. That concert will be followed by an invitation-only party at the Château de Vincennes of singing, burgers and beer (“the fundamentals at the Legion,” according to Lardet), under the culinary baton of stellar chef Thierry Marx.

Titled “Monsieur Legionnaire,” the June 18 program musically retraces the path of the legionnaire through music and song, percussion and chant. Various pieces express the legionnaire’s sense of searching, volunteering and commitment, military and technical training, the esprit de corps, combat operations, nostalgia for the country left behind, victory in combat, the wounded, R&R, and more. Along with legionnaire marches and chants, homage is paid to Edith Piaf for her well-known affection for the Legion and its legionnaires. Among the songs most identified with Piaf is Mon légionnaire, which includes the line “Il était mince, il était beau, il sentait bon le sable chaud, mon légionnaire,” a line that is nearly as famous in France as “Non, rien de rien, non, je ne regrette rien” from Non, je ne regrette rien, itself a song that the Legion has since taken on as something of a theme song of their own. A nod is also given in the program to the communion between the legionnaires and underdog cross-cultural Americana with themes from “Dancing with Wolves” and “Rocky.” There’s even a bit of rap, performed by a Mongolian legionnaire, to show that these young men are of their times.

The concert will be led by Senior Officer (hors classe) Emile Lardeux, the Legion’s musical director. Lardeux said that have adequate musicians is always uncertain since the Foreign Legion doesn’t recruit soldiers for their musical abilities. If a legionnaire is a musician, he can be invited to join the band, and even get special physical training as you can see in this video of a legionnaire who is both a combatant and a tuba player. If a man played an instrument, or was even a professional musician, in his pre-legionnaire life, he isn’t required to play in the Legion. Like any other aspect of his former life, Lardet noted, a legionnaire has a right to leave it behind.

The Foreign Legion always has a presence among the French military corps to parade down the Champs-Elysees toward the presidential tribune during the annual 14th of July Parade in Paris, as can be seen here.

But performing at the 1985-seat concert hall L’Olympia represents a different kind of badge of honor. L’Olympia, located between the Garnier Opera and the Madeleine, is a mythical venue for national and international performers. Created in 1893 as a music hall, used as a cinema in the 1930s and 1940s, it has been a premier concert hall for popular artists since 1954. Performing at L’Olympia and seeing one’s name in red neon on the marquee is a consecration for many pop performers. Lardeux himself is starstruck at the possibility of conducting his orchestra there. Set to retire this summer, he said that along with leading the Legion on a sixteenth march down the Champs-Elysées at this year’s 14th of July parade, “performing at L’Olympia is a beautiful way to end my career with the Legion.” The French-born maestro will then hand the baton to Captain Vladimir Khourda, born in Ukraine, trained in Russia, legionnaire since 1999, now with French citizenship.

How to join the French Foreign Legion

Created in 1831 initially to assist in the French conquest of Algeria, the Foreign Legion has since participated in French actions around the world: Crimea (1854-1855), Italy (1859), Mexico (1863-1867), the Franco-Prussian War, the First World War, the Second World War, Indochina (1946-1954), Algeria (1954-1962), and since then in war- and conflict-zones as diverse as Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali and the Ivory Coast, among others, as well as for anti-terrorist patrol missions in France. The current corps of about 9000 men represents 11% of France’s Operational Land Force. The Foreign Legion is headquartered near Marseille, in Aubagne, and has based spread throughout southern France. The Musée de la Légion Etrangère in Aubagne is open to the general public.

Men can apply to join the French Foreign Legion if over 17½ years old and under 39½ years old on the day they present themselves to the information desk. (Those under 18 require parental authorization.) No school diploma is required, though the applicant must at a minimum know how to read and write in his native language. Only 20% of applicants are finally integrated into the Legion. A legionnaire signs up under his true or declared identity for an initial engagement of five years. He then lives in the military compound, as a single person, at a starting salary of 1380€ net per month. When not busy on active mission, his weekends are free and he additionally has 45 vacation days per year. After three years of service a legionnaire can request French citizenship. After the initial tour of duty, reengagement in the Legion is possible for successive durations of from six months to five years. After five years of service a legionnaire can bring his family to France.

If tempted to join—whether you’re from Micronesia or elsewhere—you’ll find full recruitment information here.

If in a 2-hour concert rather than a 5-year engagement, see here to reserve to see the Foreign Legion at L’Olympia on June 18, 2023. Two shows, beginning at 2PM and 6PM. Tickets 49-99€.

You can follow the musical corps of the Foreign Legion on their Facebook page here.

© 2023, Gary Lee Kraut

The post How to Join the French Foreign Legion (in Music and Song) appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

(While Paris promotes low cartoon, the city of Nancy offers high and accessible art to the general public, as noted at the end of this article.)

The exhibition Le Chat Déambule (Le Cat’s Walk) wouldn’t be so distasteful if there were a hundred other events going on at the same time, as there usually are in Paris. In less restricted times, seeing the sculpture of a dog peeing through a hoop being held by an enormous, rotund cat or Le Chat dressed as a ballerina might be a cute diversion while taking a stroll with a six-year-old. But right now this cat is the only game in town. So its orchestration along the why-does-anyone-still-call-this “the most beautiful avenue in the world,” even though originally planned before the pandemic hit, is like ordering restaurants and food shops to close then handing out dollops of Nutella to celebrate Gastronomy Day. Some will certainly say it made their day.

A collection of 10-foot-high Bugs Bunny sculptures would be more interesting. Bugs does irony and sarcasm far more incisively and expressively than Le Chat. Could be that I’m more attached to Bugs than Le Chat because I didn’t grow up with Geluck merchandizing as the French and Belgians have. Still, I can only imagine the outcry of crass commercialism and cultural imperialism if Bugs were the lead cultural offering of the season.

Belgian cartoonist Philippe Geluck created his rotund cat in 1983 and they’ve both been well known and highly marketable in France for more than three decades. Cute irony, charming incongruity and a bit of megalomania are Le Chat’s brand of humor. Even if the work as a whole—l’oeuvre, as they say in art circles—is trite, it presents the kind of harmless humor that spreads easily and innocuously and makes its creator rich from merchandizing royalties.

It isn’t Le Chat’s quaint humor or childish irony that’s objectionable, and this isn’t a discussion as to what constitutes art. What’s objectionable is the decision of the City of Paris’s to offer a monumental version of a hackneyed newspaper cartoon as the only-see in town during this phase of the Covid restrictions. Given one shot at an outdoor sculptural exhibition, the City of Paris went for this?

While the national government meanders through the minefields of the pandemic, the city government has decided to encourage herd immunity from critical thinking. The bronzes are cute enough in a simple-minded way, call them mildly amusing if you like, but with museums closed, the occasion called out for exhibiting something more thought-provoking or humorous or simply surprising in the public space—something to appeal to our sense of curiosity at a time when cultural gatherings are otherwise forbidden and many of our usual pleasures (not to mention loved ones) are out of reach. Instead, Le Cat has killed the curiosity.

The exhibition is present along the park bordering the Avenue des Champs-Elysées from Place de la Concorde to the Rond-Point from March 26 to June 9.

Sculptural Sedatives

It’s a misnomer to call the current restrictions lockdown. Instead, since November we’ve been locked out from cultural institutions and locked in for the evening. As displeasing as it is to be infantilized by a grab-bag of restrictions and fluctuating curfews decreed by the moderate right national government, the moderate left city government under Mayor Hidalgo clearly views Paris as a playground for uncurious children.

The Geluck exhibition will be gone soon enough but what will remain is the sense that insipid installations, permanent or otherwise, are a hallmark of the current occupants of Hidalgo’s vision of Paris. Two others examples, both installed in 2019, stand near Le Chat: One is Jeff Koons’ bouquet of anal/mushroom tulips in the park on the opposite side of the avenue. Koons’ sculpture was intended as a colorful call to weep for the victims of terrorism but it’s as unthought-provoking as Le Chat in a tutu: take a picture and move on. The other is the group of LED-lit tubular crystal and bronze fountains at the Rond-Point. The good news is that both of those are easily ignored: you’re unlikely to pass by the bouquet without seeking it out and you’re unlikely to notice the high-tech plumbing during the day despite their prominent position.

City Hall has repeatedly reminded doubters that the 3.5+ million euros for the tulips and the 6.3 million for the high-tech plumbing were funded through private donations in collaboration with the Fonds pour Paris – Paris Foundation, as though private funding makes more palatable and less public these mind-numbing installations. (Follow the money in one analysis here.)

All attempts to bring a contemporary touch to the city get criticized, city officials repeatedly proclaim. That is certainly true; Parisians and the Paris-based national press love to debate what’s going on in their backyard. Yet it’s also true that despite the distinct reasons for each these three closely-spaced installations—the grotesque bouquet, the fancy plumbing, the glorified cartoon—they reveal similar attempts to numb the mind of the stroller and the passerby. Each of them is distinctly uninspiring. City Hall would have us believe that any criticism of their public installations is a criticism of progress and of contemporary art or design. But you have only to realize that none of them holds your attention for more than one minute to understand that they are cultural and sculptural sedatives, intended to keep us from thinking anything at all.

Are You in Love?

While Paris promotes low cartoon, Greater Nancy is offering high and accessible art that premiered online on March 25, 2021.

Etes-Vous Amoureux? (Are You in Love?), a project by the Opéra National de Lorraine, may not have the mass appeal of Le Chat but it certainly makes an effort to engage the general public with the arts in an original manner during the pandemic. It premiered online on March 25.

Composed by Paul Brody, who’s American, and developed through NOX, the Opera’s laboratory for lyric creation, the opera is comprised of 12 lyrical short films presenting 12 love stories filmed at 12 locations in the Greater Nancy area. Nancy is a city 190 miles east of Paris. The films have English subtitles.

Watch contemporary opera when there’s so much else to do? I know, I thought the same thing. Then I clicked on the first film and patiently got drawn in. Will you? Have a look and listen here.

© 2021, Gary Lee Kraut

The post The Mona Lisa of the Champs-Elysées (How Le Cat Killed Curiosity) appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

Watch the video interview below to understand the dual nature of Sofia Falkovitch and her work, at once alien and fully connected. She speaks here of her childhood in the former Soviet Union, her decision to pursue cantorial studies in Berlin, the experience of leading a service in a predominately Orthodox synagogue in Germany, and her vision of music and song as a way of bringing people together, not only within the Jewish community but within broader society. She also speaks of her love of Paris as an exciting “platform where cultures and religions meet.”

The interview was filmed in the main sanctuary at the Copernic Synagogue in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. Home to the Union Libérale Israélite de France, Copernic is France’s oldest Liberal or Reform synagogue, dating to 1907. It is Falkovitch’s local synagogue since she is married to Rabbi Jonas Jacquelin, one of its religious leaders. (They have two children.) Falkovitch is not, however, the cantor at the Copernic Synagogue, nor is she permanently employed elsewhere. She has opted for an international career singing both liturgical music and classical works. Indeed, Falkovitch is also an accomplished concert mezzo-soprano who has performed in synagogues, churches, concert halls and theaters around the world.

For those unfamiliar with Judaism, the cantor or hazan is the synagogue official who sings liturgical music and leads the congregation in chanted prayer. The three main currents in Judaism, called Orthodox, Conservative and Reform in English, are called Orthodox, Massorti and Libéral in French. While Reform and Liberal may be used interchangeably, and in fact both are part of the overall movement of Progressive Judaism, individual synagogues and practices will vary due to cultural and community influences.

The equality of men and women is an essential value in the Progressive movement. Though Progressive Judaism is well established in the United States, it has been less prominent in Europe, and particularly in France, until recently.

Beyond the alluring color of her voice and the elegance of her presence, Sofia Falkovitch is an articulate representative of this current of Judaism while also carving her own path as a singer. Having grown up in Moscow, studied in Germany, Israel and Canada, and now living in Paris, her mastery of seven languages (French, English, Russian, German, Yiddish, Hebrew and Spanish) itself speaks volumes about her sense of the importance of communication among individuals, faiths and cultures.

Watch the interview here:

See Sofia Falkovitch’s website for further information about her work, upcoming concert dates and information about her latest CD, released in 2019, entitled “The Voice of Sacred Heritage,” in which she interprets psalms and sacred Hebrew music.

The Copernic Synagogue and Organized Jewish Life in Western Paris

The Copernic Synagogue is located at 24 rue Copernic in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. (Synagogues in Paris are commonly referred to by the name of the street on which they’re located.) Visitors interested in attending services or a concert at Copernic must contact the synagogue in advance. Services at Copernic are accompanied by an organist and a choir.

The above interview took place in the synagogue’s Art Deco sanctuary built 1923-1924. Despite opposition from some in the community who have fought for the sanctuary’s preservation, the community’s board has elected to replace it with a new sanctuary as part of a future expansion of the synagogue complex. The project is currently in the fundraising phase. Questions of preservation aside, the planned expansion is a sign of the evolution of the infrastructure.

In the same vein, on the far edge of the 17th arrondissement, Kehilat Gesher, a bilingual (French-English) Liberal community, is about to move into its new synagogue at 11 avenue de la Porte de Champerret. American-born Rabbi Tom Cohen is the driving force behind that community. He’s married to Pauline Bebe, France’s first female rabbi. See the article A Couple of Rabbis in Paris.

The 17th arrondissement and its neighboring suburbs have increasingly become a hub of Jewish activity of various mainstream currents, both in residential and organizational terms. In October 2019 the European Jewish Center was inaugurated in this same district by President Emmanuel Macron.

Bei Mir Bistu Shein

Let’s end with two minutes of Yiddiskeit at the Copernic Synagogue. In the video below, The Moscow Male Jewish Cappella, led by its founder and artistic director Alexander Tsaliuk, performs Bei Mir Bistu Shein (בײַ מיר ביסטו שיין; To Me You’re Beautiful).

© 2020, Gary Lee Kraut

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As travelers we enjoy the surprise of coming upon local festivals. But attending major festivals in towns and small cities requires planning: hotels fill, tickets sell out, well-known restaurants require more advance reservations than usual.

To help with the planning and to whet your appetite for the summer festival season, Corinne LaBalme has selected for France Revisited some of the best and brightest events of the season.

Aix-en-Provence. The world première of Pinocchio by Belgian composer Philippe Boesman headlines a strong and diverse opera line-up for the Festival Lyrique featuring Carmen, The Rake’s Progress, Don Giovanni, Erismena and Eugene Onegin. Locations include the stunning 21st century Grand Théâtre in the city’s new arts quarter and the moonlit courtyard of the former Archbishop’s Palace. July 3 to 21.

Avignon. All-new productions of Antigone (Sophocles) and La Princesse Maleine (Maeterlinck) are two theatrical highlights of the Festival d’Avignon from July 6 to 26.

Beaune. The International Baroque & Romantic Opera Festival presents works by Monteverdi, Handel, Lully and Scarlatti this season from July 7 to 30. William Christie makes a star appearance too.

Cannes. The annual Festival d’Art Pyrotechnique (fireworks) competition provides extra sparkle to the Riviera waterfront on summer nights. The 2017 fireworks begin on July 13th with a Canadian light-show and wrap up on August 24th with Italy’s tribute to movie music.

Carcassonne. There’s something for everyone in this medieval fortress town during the July 1 to 30 Carcassonne Festival: Musical comedy (The Ten Commandments); Opera (The Marriage of Figaro); Dance (Ballet Béjart Lausanne) and rock (French legends Johnny Hallyday, Jacques Dutronc and Eddie Mitchell team up for a tour de force trio) plus Christophe Maé and a Mali music rave.

Clisson. Every kind of head-banging music – Doom, Death Metal, Grind, Pagan Metal, Thrash, Stoner – blasts this (normally quiet) town near Nantes for Hellfest from June 16 to 18. Book soon: the three-day passes sold out in early March.

Colmar. The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia is the guest of honor at the 29th Festival International de Colmar so expect some Russian romance along with the Ravel (and chilled Riesling) in this scenic Alsace burg from July 5 to 14.

Juan-les-Pins. Macy Gray, Tom Jones, Sting, Anoushka Shankar and Wayne Shorter are just some stars playing in the moonlit Riviera pine-grove at Jazz à Juan from July 14 to 23.

La Rochelle. This year, July 12-16, all the best-dressed French boys are showing for the 2017 Francofolies rock festival in this sea-side Atlantic town: Christophe Maé, MHD, Benjamin Biolay, Julien Doré and the ageless Professor of Perfecto, Renaud.

Lorient. Brush up on your Breizh, but pronounce it with a highland brogue since Scotland is the guest of honor at the 2017 Festival Interceltique in Brittany, the best fête in France to commune with your Inner Druid.

Lyon. Jazz (Norah Jones, Pink Martini), Opera (Don Givanni), Circus acts (Santa Madera, Cirque Plume) and theater (Isabelle Huppert!) headline at the eclectic Nuits de Fourvière from June 1 to July 29.

Mougins. Stand aside theater, dance and music, from June 23 to 25 Les Etoiles de Mougins celebrates the stars of gastronomy, with Daniel Boulud as this year’s guest of honor.

Nice. The 2016 edition of the Nice Jazz Festival was cancelled after the Bastille night attack but there’s a great line-up this summer — including Herbie Hancock, Mary J. Blige, and Kadhja Bonet — from July 17 to 21.

Orange. High drama and melodrama take to the stage of the stunning theater from antiquity when Chorégies, a world-class opera festival, comes to this town in Provence from June 19 to August 5. Bring cushions for the stone seat and don’t mind the occasional stereophonic bat screeching. This year’s festival is very Verdi (Rigoletto and Aïda) while the 2017 party opens up to a new movie public with a screening of Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera.

Paris. The itinerant Lollapalooza Rock Festival makes its Paris debut at the Longchamps Hippodrome July 22-23. The American headliners are Lana Del Rey and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Think two-tier Woodstock: the basic two-day pass is 149€, but the Saturday Platinum VIP pass (with champagne, spa and chauffeur service) is 779€.

Paris. Bring a picnic for these free afternoon concerts in the Vincennes gardens (June 17 to July 30) but check the website for exact times and events before packing the pickles. As we go to press, the Paris Jazz Festival site is still playing two beats slower than the music.

Reims. The Flâneries Musicales festival, June 22 to July 12, bubbles extra brightly this season with classical concerts in sites like the elegant Krug Champagne courtyard. The season wraps up with an encore picnic concert on July 22.

Vienne. The 37th annual Jazz à Vienne brings Becca Stevens, De La Soul, Kezia Jones, Herbie Hancock and Zuccero (among others) to the city’s Gallo-Roman arena from June 29 to July 13.

Versailles. Versailles is a party all year long but the Louis XIV-inspired fireworks in the Orangerie Park – July 6, 7, 12 and 14 – are worth a special mention.

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In a series of admirable performances by Compagnie Chouchenko, a theater company specialized in classics of French theater and literary, Corneille’s Le Cid, Molière’s Dom Juan and Hugo’s Les Misérables are being played on alternate nights at Vingtième Théâtre in Paris’s 20th arrondissement from January 14 to March 6, 2016.

Playing within sparse scenery, the company does a terrific job of filling the stage with the rich sentiment and conflict of these three works. The performances are straightforward without losing any of the drama or humor of the moment, while the staging is effectively fluid despite its apparent simplicity.

Having attended all three plays in the past week, I’m impressed by how convincingly the actors assume their various roles from evening to evening, sometimes in two roles in a single play.

Manon Montel, one of the company’s founders, is remarkably versatile not only as an actress in all three but as the plays’ director. Léo Paget, Franck Jouglas and Nathan Metral and the rest of the troupe hold up their end of the bargain with dramatic or comedic flourish.

If concerned that you might not understand all of the text you might look up a summary of the play beforehand. And here are some extracts to practice your listening skills.

Les Misérables is an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s bestselling novel, not to be confused with the musical.

Le Cid is the most difficult to understand for those who aren’t fluent in French because performed in verse, yet it’s a play to know if you want to score culture points in Paris.

Le Cid is performed Thursdays, Dom Juan Fridays and Les Misérables Saturdays, Sundays and some Thursday afternoons. For the full schedule see here.

Vingtième Théâtre, 7 rue des Plâtrières, 20th arrondissement. Metro Menilmontant or Père Lachaise or Gambetta. The theater receives subsidies from the City of Paris and the 20th arrondissement. Tickets are reasonably priced 25€ (13€ for students) and advance reservation is likely unnecessary for evening performances.

Post-theater eats: Evening performances begin at 7:30pm and end, without intermission, at about 9pm—a perfect time to go to dinner in the area. There are plenty of cafés, bars and inexpensive restaurants around along Rue de Menilmontant and nearby Rue Sorbier. My own after-dinner meals : Italian fare at La Terre Madre, 46 rue de Menilmontant, after Dom Juan at ; a burger at Blend, 19 rue de Menilmontant, after Les Miserables; good dive bar fare at L’Entrepot’s, 68 rue de Menilmontant/2 rue Sorbier, after Le Cid.

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Presented in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and featuring Herbie Hancock as Goodwill Ambassador, International Jazz Day encourages and highlights the power of jazz as a force for freedom and creativity, promoting intercultural dialogue through respect and understanding, uniting people from around the globe.

The 2015 International Jazz Day celebration will kick off in Paris on April 30 with a daylong series of jazz education programs, performances and community outreach. An evening All-Star Global Concert at UNESCO Headquarters in the 7th arrondissement will feature performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, A Bu (China), Igor Butman (Russia), Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Ibrahim Maalouf (Lebanon), Hugh Masekela (South Africa), Marcus Miller, Guillaume Perret (France), Dianne Reeves, Claudio Roditi (Brazil), Wayne Shorter, Dhafer Youssef (Tunisia) and many other internationally acclaimed artists. John Beasley will serve as the evening’s Musical Director. Further details about the concert can be found here.

The concert from Paris will be streamed live worldwide via the UNESCO, U.S. Department of State and Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz websites. Daytime events in Paris will include master classes, roundtable discussions, improvisational workshops and education programs led by world-renowned jazz musicians, educators and diplomats. In addition to the All-Star Concert, multiple evening concerts and performances will take place across the city of Paris.

Given its legendary place in jazz history, Paris is an ideal choice to serve as the International Jazz Day Global Host City. The city’s major figures in jazz include guitarist Django Reinhardt, vocalists Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker, violinists Jean-Luc Ponty and Stéphane Grappelli, and many more. Today, Paris continues to play an important role in the ongoing development of jazz as a musical art form at jazz clubs such as Au Duc des Lombards, Le Baiser Salé, Caveau des Oubliettes, Caveau de la Huchette, Sunset/Sunrise, Le Café Universel, New Morning, Jazz Club Etoile, Caveau des Légendes, Le Petit Journal Montparnasse and many other venues.

“Jazz means dialogue, reaching out to others, bringing everyone on board,” said UNESCO Director-General Bokova. “It means respecting the human rights and dignity of every woman and man, no matter their background. It means understanding others, letting them speak, listening in the spirit of respect. All this is why we join together to celebrate jazz—this music of freedom is a force for peace, and its messages have never been more vital than they are today, in times of turbulence, in the year when we celebrate the 70 anniversary of UNESCO.”

Ambassador Hancock said, “Every single country on all seven continents will shine the spotlight on jazz for 24 hours straight, sharing the beauty, passion, and ethics of the music. Educators, visual artists, writers, philosophers, intellectuals, dancers, musicians of all ages and skill levels, photographers, filmmakers, videographers, bloggers and jazz enthusiasts will participate in Jazz Day by openly exchanging ideas through performances, education programs, and other creative endeavors.”

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz is once again working with UNESCO and its field offices, national commissions, networks, Associated Schools, universities and institutes, public radio and public television stations and NGOs to ensure their involvement and participation in International Jazz Day 2015.

Additionally, in countries throughout the world, libraries, schools, universities, performing arts venues, community centers, artists and arts organizations of all disciplines will be celebrating the day through presentations, concerts, and other jazz-focused programs. As in past years, it is anticipated that programs will be confirmed in all 196 UN and UNESCO member countries.

Ultimately, International Jazz Day seeks to foster intercultural dialogue and raise public awareness about the role of jazz music in promoting the universal values of UNESCO’s mandate. As a language of freedom, jazz promotes social inclusion, enhancing understanding and tolerance, and nurturing creativity.

For more information about International Jazz Day and to register for events on the official website, visit www.jazzday.com.

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Luis Ribeiro, the show’s creator and co-director, steals nearly every scene he appears in thanks to his ability to combine physical prowess with facial and bodily expressiveness. Shiler Pierrima makes for a fine side-kick in some scenes thanks to both his physique (he’s a tall black man) and his efforts to invest himself in each of his outsized roles. The other three—Kevin Perez, Riyad Bassim and co-director Benjamin Renaudin—fulfill their athletic duties on stage well though without the expressiveness of the other two.

In addition to its appeal to young adults, Droles de mecs is family-friendly entertainment, provided that your family doesn’t mind harmless locker-room references to male genitalia.

Not only are there no foreign words to get in the way of a non-French spectator’s appreciation of the acrobatics, dance and physical humor here, but the parodies of and references to American music, movies and TV series of the 70s, 80s and 90s make Droles de Mecs easily accessible to non-French speakers. The show’s title is itself a Frenchified American reference—to the series “Charlie’s Angels,” “Drôles de dames” in French, with gym rats in the place of bathing beauties.

As I heard one 30-year-old woman say to her girlfriend on the way out of the show: “We’ve definitely got to get our guys back into the gym.”

Droles de Mecs at La Grande Comédie until Jan. 15, 2012. 40 rue de Clichy, 9th arrondissement. Metro Place de Clichy. Wed.-Sat. at 9:30pm and Sun. at 6pm. Tickets: 22.50€ – 29.50€. 75 minutes without intermission.

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The show consists of two guys—Yann Coste and Sébastien Rambaud—pulling each other’s chain and monkeying around for 75 minutes in playful competition with their percussion instruments. It’s a fun mix of teenage musical prankery and accomplished adult drumming.

It’s light, it’s un-extraordinary, it’s well-conceived, it’s a nice bit of basement theater (it can be warm down there). It ain’t Molière (see below) but it’s entertaining in its simplicity. And it finishes by 9:30pm, so you still have time to enjoy dinner as one of the many small restaurants just around the corner in the Montogueil Quarter.

Thursdays and Saturdays until Dec. 22, 2011. 19€. There are typically last-minute tickets available at the door, and the theater is small enough to sit anywhere, so it’s not too much of a risk to just show up at the door at 7:45pm. Or call 01 42 61 89 90 for reservations.

Fills Monkey at Le Sentier des Halles, 50 rue d’Aboukir, 2nd arrondissement. Metro Sentier.

Nearby eateries and drinkeries
If looking for an eatery after the show (or without the show), begin around the corner on rue Léopold Bellan to see if they’re still serving at Le Domaine (#36, simple and southwestern), La Mauvaise Réputation (#28, contemporary), or best of all L’Hédoniste (#14, bistronomy). There are plenty of drinkeries in the Montorgueil Quarter.

And now for something completely different:

The Comédie Française at the Petit Palais
Paintings, sculptures, documents, personal objects, props and models from France’s most important institution for classical and repertory theater, the Comédie Française, are on display through January 15, 2012 at the Petit Palais. The Comédie Française was founded by Louis XIV in 1680, seven years after the death of Molière, yet it is still considered “the house that Molière built” since the great playwright’s own troop and plays set the stage for its success. The current main stage theater of the Comédie Française was built in 1799.
The Comédie Française at the Petit Palais, avenue Winston-Churchill, 8th arr. Open Tues.-Sun. 10am-8pm, Thurs, until 8pm.

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In search for a reason for this decline, some will to point a finger at the 2008 smoking ban, as though it’s no fun meeting strangers unless you first spot them through a blue-gray haze. When that argument falls flat they will point not such much to the anti-libertarian non-smoking signs inside but to the signs outside inviting people to smoke quietly so as not to disturb the neighbors. Critics of a complacent night scene also cite the city’s attempts to starve the party beast with the enforcement of ordinances against drunken driving, amplified music floating up from cafes, drug use in clubs, and urinating in the street.

It’s true that a night of partying is much less fun if you have to think of designated drivers, acoustic guitars, rest rooms without drug dealers, and restricted outdoor peeing. In the latter case it’s worth noting out that the city began installing free, self-cleaning (itself not yourself) toilets this summer… and that few of them work.

What the critics fail to note is that Paris is increasingly a bourgeois living room of a city, so partying is not on the weekly agenda for the vast majority of Parisians. Furthermore, the increasing disposable income of typical Parisians means that they can afford to go away for the weekend. Basically, Parisians aren’t big partiers.

Still, the critics are wrong to say that nightlife has disappeared. While big 80s and 90s style clubs are no longer the attraction, Paris, the city of cafés, is now chock full of bars and pubs, or at least cafés that in the evening act as bars and pubs—i.e. friendly gathering places—as we might think of them. There are of course the ubiquitous Irish pubs, but more significantly there are now tons of cafés with music some evenings and café-bars. Most of these in the eastern and northern arrondissements (3rd, 10th, 11th, 18th, 19th, and 20th ). Jazz clubs still exist in the center of the Left and Right Banks.

Admitted, the economics of dealing in a bar that attracts 30 people on a given evening is not the same as in a club that attracts 500, and what fun is it to drink, even illegally, in the street if you can’t then break the bottle in the gutter? There’s also clearly something Big Brotherish about a city that requests people to smoke quietly, pee discreetly, and wear condoms, but at least this isn’t London, where every pub- and party-goer is filmed in the street to make sure that he or she vomits only in the gutter.

I’ve chosen this moment to explain all this because the City Hall, having taken the criticism to heart, or at least to its tech department, and has just launched a website to list the (legal) possibilities of enjoying Paris after dark.

The site is called Paris Nightlife and is in English because no Parisian would think it the least bit cool if the title were in French. But since some of them still have problem reading English the site is also in French.

The site is in its infancy so there aren’t yet many venues listed, but this will presumably increase as businesses sign up to be listed. The City of Paris also invites them to sign a charter called “Fêtez Clairs” or “Clear Partying,” whereby they are expected to “create a healthy environment, prevent risky behaviors and reduce harms, [and] manage illegal behaviors”—so it might more appropriately be called Stay Clear of Partying.

Nevertheless, there are things to do after leaving a restaurant other than return to the 2×4 of your hotel or apartment.

Searches on Paris Nightlife can be made by arrondissement, by date or period, by type of venue, by type of music, and by type of audience. Among the types of audience (20-30 years old, 30+, 45+, etc.) it’s odd to find “business clientele” and “foreign visitors” listed, which is like finding a listing in Chicago indicating that certain bars are especially intended for New Yorkers or Texans.

In any case, Paris Nightlife can’t possibly be dead… City Hall just launched it: http://www.parisnightlife.fr

© 2009, Gary Lee Kraut

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Instead, Zorro arrived (though June 30, 2010).

Zorro is the stuff of dreams. He spends less time in the gym than Superman, he’s less closeted than Batman, he’s more seductive than Robin Hood. He’s got wit, he’s got talent. He’s lived in California, he’s live in Spain. He speaks both English and Spanish, and now he speaks French too!

Too bad he was doing all that while confined to Zorro, Le Musical.

Zorro, in this incarnation inspired by a novel by Isabel Allende, is seeking his path in life, feeling that he can’t live up to his father’s hopes to turn him into a leader. He gets kicked out of military school for being footloose despite his talents with a sword, makes friends with gypsies, takes on the persona of Zorro, rescues the poor people of California from repression, returns to Spain with his gypsy friends, meets up with his childhood girlfriend, discovers that his older brother is a tyrant who has deposed their father (apparently the older brother became a tyrant to get back at Zorro for being his father’s favorite). Zorro with the slashing Z to the rescue.

I wasn’t sure whether I was going to write about Zorro, Le Musical since I would only do so if I found it more or less recommendable. Allow me to explain my mixed feeling:
Music: one thumb up for the dancing and the Gypsy Kings’ gypsy and flamenco music, one thumb down for the Gypsy Kings’ other songs.
Staging: one thumb up for use of the theater, one thumb down for being so cartoonish.
Singing: One thumb up for the voices, one thumb down because nothing can be done to help those other Gypsy Kings songs.
Storyline: One thumb up (for visiting English-speakers) because it’s simple enough to understand it in French; one larger thumb down because Zorro deserves a better vehicle than this is a psychodrama without .
The theater: two thumbs up for the Folies Bergère.

Two months after it opened I was still hesitant or perhaps lazy, but then I attended the press opening for Roméo & Juliette, a French musical showing at the Palais des Congres until April 4, and that show was so dreadful—from concept to music to décor (admittedly I only saw the first half before quitting the theater)—that I realized that Zorro, the Musical did make for a decent evening of family entertainment in Paris.

* * *

Musicals in Paris

Zorro, Le Musical at the Folies Bergère until June 30, 2010. Another thumb up on pricing since tickets are currently available at two for the price of one. Inquire about 2 for 1 possibilities when reserving.

Roméo et Juliette at the Palais des Congrès until April 4, 2010.

Le Roi Lion (The Lion King) at the Théâtre Mogador until July 25, 2010.

Violin sur le Toit (Fiddler on the Roof) at Le Palace until July 31, 2010.

Coming in spring: Les Misérables at Théâtre du Châtelet May 26-July 4, 2010.

© 2010, Gary Lee Kraut

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