Jazz Music is an original American art form that incorporates music from many different cultures.  It has become an international music, which can be heard in most countries around the world, performed by musicians from those countries as well as American musicians. This assignment is a research and writing assignment that asks you to write about a contemporary International Jazz musician/group (a musician or group that comes from a country other than the USA) or an International jazz “scene” such as a famous International jazz festival like the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, or the jazz scene found in an international metropolitan area such as Paris, London, Cape Town or Tokyo – writing about how Jazz has become part of the “scene” in those places – important venues: jazz clubs, concert houses, jazz societies,  and important musicians from the “scene”. This paper is to be about the current Jazz scene or artist/group, you need to document Jazz music that is going on NOW, within the last 5 years.  Your paper can discuss important background issues to support your ideas, but your subject is an International Jazz artist of scene that is currently active.

There are many interesting topics that fall under this umbrella.  Many international jazz musicians combine music from their own country or region with existing jazz musical ideas to create a new jazz sound.  Other international jazz musicians are dedicated to playing very traditional styles of jazz.  Many came to the US to study jazz music and apprentice with American jazz masters.If you choose to write about an artist/group,  you will need to find artists/groups that are living and practicing the music in an International location. Some will still perform I the US, (and around the world) while basing their careers outside the US, often in their home countries or regions. 

It is important that the topic you choose has enough information about the international aspects of the musician/group or jazz scene to support a research paper.  The assignment is about a “contemporary” artist or scene – meaning that the artists or scene is currently active, with the paper including recent activity – recordings, concerts, etc..  Historical background is important, but the focus of the paper is about an artist/jazz scene going on right now. 

For instance, if you write about the jazz scene in Paris, you need to mention the history of Jazz in Paris (this is very important to this topic) and then write about the scene today, where the musicians are playing Jazz in Paris, who they are and how Jazz is integrated into modern Parisian society.

 

History of Jazz in Paris

Jazz music in Paris started during World War 1 when segregated soldiers marched music through the two-thousand-miles small farm. These soldiers were led by Lt. James Reese Europe, who is remembered for his 369^th Harlem band (Martin-Gagnon & Creech, 2019). After the war, most musicians and other entertainers came back and settled in Paris Black Montmartre. After settling, Hughes Panassie and Charles Delauney established the Jazz club that made France accept this type of music. After WWII, numerous youth in France went to Paris and stayed around the smoky literary cafes of Le Café Flore before going to jazz clubs at midnight. Boris Vian, famously known as The White Negro, opened Tabou Club in 1947. This happened before the return of African American musicians that blazed while coming back to Paris (French, 2021). Some of the musicians that came in 1948 included Dizzy Gillespie, Hawkins, and Clarke. The fans flooded festivals and other areas because of the music as signs of appreciating the jazz music in the country.

Scene Today

Today's scene is a Jazz band by Tatiana Eva Marie and Avalon members in April at Burton Avenue in Paris (Burton Avenue, 2021). The recording was released on 9^th March 2021 and can be found on YouTube through the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REj68lDABW8 (Martin-Gagnon & Creech, 2019). The record is labeled Tatiana Eva Marie & The Avalon Jazz Band.  The band is inspired by 1930s jazz music from Paris scenes. The other musicians in the recording include Edith Piaf that sang Sous le Ciel de Paris and La Vie en Rose. Henry Des that sang C'est le printemps, and Rina Ketty that sang J’attendrai. All these are essential elements that describe the jazz music live performance that happened in the song.

Where Musicians Are Playing Jazz in Paris

            There are multiple places in Paris where musicians play jazz music.  Some of these places include Jazz café Montparnasse, Le Studio de l’Ermitrage, Le comptoir, Duc Des lombards, Sunset/ Sunside, and the New Morning. The New morning is a place found in Paris arrondissement and is a jazz club that allows musicians to play other songs like the blues and groove. The place holds more than four hundred individuals with the opportunity of either standing or sitting (Berliner, 2018).

 La Dynamo is located in East Paris and holds both jazz and improvised type of songs. This makes La Dynamo a tremendous acoustic and flexible area that also has room for daytime rehearsals. Sunset/Sunside is found on rue des Lombards (Martin-Gagnon & Creech, 2019). The place's name describes its layout where the basement is known as sunset, and the ground floor jazz club is referred to as SUnside. The place allows local and international French Jazz singers that come with international music programming. Some of the jazz music legends who have been to the place include Brad Mehldau, Shepp, and Elling (Fripp, 2020). Lombards are found at the center of Paris's chief tourist district. The place offers room for performance for both local and international musicians. Some notable guests are Wynton Marsalis, Jamal, and Watts. These places form base areas where musicians are playing jazz upon visiting Paris (Berliner, 2018).

Who they are

The musicians in the music include Tatiana Eva-Marie. Tatiana is a vocalist born in Brooklyn and sung items that included the 1930s type of swing jazz. She stayed in Paris until 2011, when she relocated to New York City before establishing the Avalon Jazz band. The other musician is Edith Piaf that sang Sous le Ciel de Paris and La Vie en Rose. Edith Piaf was born in 1935 and died in 1963. She was a French singer for the France national. Her jazz songs are celebrated and loved by multiple individuals in the current Parisian community (Bjerstedt, 2015).

How Jazz is Integrated into Modern Parisian Society

Jazz is integrated into modern Parisian society because the people have a habit of preserving their traditions. Parisians support multiple jazz clubs that began forty to fifty years. An instance of such a club is Caveau de la Huchette, located in the Latin Quarter and has existed since as early as 1946. The other traditional jazz club is the un demi-siecle which has been in existence for over half a century. The people support these clubs, and today, they would still fill the two oldest clubs (Slow Club and 130 rue de Rivoli) to attend and enjoy jazz music (Gourse, 2021). The young ones are taught to preserve culture, and that is all that matters when it comes to passing the genes to modern society. Both groups enjoy listening to the music in those clubs, and most cases go together. The young grow up liking the music already as it passes from the parent to the children. It implies that Jazz music in Paris is transformed from parents to children (Berliner, 2018).

Jazz music is valued by Parisian modern society as a stress reliever and excellent music thus accepted by both young and old in modern society. Psychological experts outlined that this music impacts the brain of individuals by handling stress areas. Music is a stimulant as it aids modern society to think well while playing. It is also fun listening to music. All these benefits are what modern society is taught and follows. They act as the best way to pass and integrate jazz music into the community (Bjerstedt, 2015).

There are multiple clubs in modern society, and this is the first-way jazz music integrated into modern society. Paris city has multiple clubs that host and appreciate jazz music. The music seems to have taken over the entire country and is part of the traditions. Modern society fills the clubs whenever musicians come to do some presentations (Hamelink, 2021). The love of music makes modern individuals even attend nightclub music to listen to and support their people. All these are vital when it comes to having music integrated into society. Music is now considered part of society, starting with the way people dress and their hairstyles. Musicians use short hair when dancing (Berliner, 2018).