Avalon Jazz Band - Je Suis Swing (2016)

Avalon Jazz Band is the musical ambassador of Parisian Swing in New York City, with a sound and repertoire reminiscent of Django & Grappelli’s Hot Club de France. This style of music became what we now know as “Gypsy jazz”, with the iconic technical bravadoes of the guitar and violin. The delicate voice and swing phrasing of Tatiana Eva-Marie (recently named “rising jazz star” by Vanity Fair) brings to life the ingenuous and mischievous joie-de-vivre of the French 1930s and 40s. They continue the tradition adding their own special touch, with new compositions, original arrangements and a fresh take on classic jazz repertoire.

“Je suis swing” is our tribute to the Zazou swing kids, the rebels who protested the war through music, dance and laughter. In our own way, we feel like we are continuing this tradition. Paris in the 1930s was a fascinating, bustling place where French jazz was born through the talents of musicians such as Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli and the emergence of composers like Charles Trenet and Joseph Kosma. Jean Sablon is considered by some to be the first French jazz singer: he was the first to use a microphone on stage and was nicknamed the “singer with no voice”, which meant that he had revolutionized the Parisian music scene. He gave Django Reinhardt his first big break and their collaboration has come to define French jazz as a very clever, intimate and dreamy way of expressing the essence of Paris’ innocent decadence. In many ways, French jazz meant preserving the bohemian spirit of Paris through times of uncertainty, war and turmoil, always retaliating with insolent joy and infinite joie de vivre.

This compilation of songs attempts to offer a glimpse of the musical landscape of 1930s and 40s Paris, not as a museum piece, but as an emotion suspended in time that can be accessed at any moment by a simple stretch of our romantic imaginations.