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Paris
(Combo) By Night
by Seth Edlavitch
Paris
Combo are French. They are so very very French, one imagines
the band members meeting on weekends in bantam café on the left
bank of the Seine, sipping apéritifs and humming Edith Piaf
tunes to each other. In the spirit of Piaf and other classic
French chanson singers, the quintet plays a unique mix of gypsy
jazz, hot jazz, swing, Latin, and smoky, nightclub, close-your-eyes-it’s-gonna-move-your-soul
music. They are imminently cool, and very good at what they
do.
I
recently caught up with the band on the first night of their
two week United States tour to promote their self-titled debut
album, which was recorded in 1997 but only released in the
U.S. this year. I fell instantly in love with singer Belle
du Berry when she started off their first set by saying, "We
make song for you" as the combo jumped into a sweet Spanish
melody called "Irenee." The audience, too, was mesmerized
by Belle and the energy generated by David Lewis’ Dixieland
trumpet playing, the Django Rheinhardt sounds of Potzi on
guitar, Mano Razanajato’s smooth stylings on the double bass,
and the controlled rhythms of Francois-Francois on percussion.
After the show, and the language barrier notwithstanding,
I sat down with the band members to talk about their music.
ATOMIC:
How long have you been together?
David
Lewis: Altogether as it is now, two years, but Belle, Potzi
and Francois have been together four or five years.
ATOMIC:
What were you doing before Paris Combo?
Francois-Francois:
Before Paris Combo, Belle, Potzi and I had a cabaret show
called "Cabaret Sauvage." We played old French songs from
the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s, with some Django Reinhardt-style
music. But the Cabaret was more of a visual show, more of
a theater. We had some Chinese puppets, and I even played
a bear!
ATOMIC:
So, how did you get into Paris Combo?
Francois:
After the Cabaret show ended, Belle, Potzi and I continued together
and decided to take a more musical track. We played other people’s
songs and some songs composed by Belle. When we met David, we
began playing more of Belle’s songs.
David:
When I met them, they had a band that mostly played covers,
although they did play some of Belle’s tunes and some of Potzi’s
tunes. Gradually, after Mano and I came to the band, we decided
to mainly do originals.
ATOMIC:
Do you play all originals now?
David:
We do a couple of covers, but 99 percent of our music is original.
The tunes on the first album are mainly Belle’s tunes. A couple
of the songs are written by Potzi and me. On the second album,
everybody composed.
ATOMIC:
Tell me about the kind of music you play. I’ve heard it called
"hot jazz" or "jazz manouche." How would you describe it?
Belle
du Berry: Our music is influenced from all of the cultures
from our band. Jazz manouche (gypsy jazz) is a part of the music
we play.
David:
Yes, we definitely have a jazz manouche, Django Rheinhardt,
gypsy jazz sound. That’s part of what we do.
ATOMIC:
What about swing style music?
David:
Some of our tunes do have a swing feel. It’s a gypsy swing—Potzi’s
very much a Django Rheinhardt freak.
ATOMIC:
Obviously, Rheinhardt has inspired the style and sound of
your music. In what ways has Django’s style influenced Paris
Combo?
David:
A lot of our tunes are based on the sound of the guitar. One
of our main rhythmical influences is the hot jazz, Django Rheinhardt
swing sound. Django developed a unique sound that involved chord
voicings and a whole new technique for playing the guitar. As
I said before, Potzi is very much a Django Rheinhardt freak,
which comes through in our music. However, there are other guitar
colors as well—Potzi plays with sort of a gypsy rhumba feel,
jazz sound, and definitely Latin.
ATOMIC:
Belle, a lot of people compare you to Edith Piaf and Marlene
Dietrich. How do you react to that?
Belle:
I am very flattered when I hear people comparing me to Edith
Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, but I don’t think that it's a fair
comparison. No one in France compares me to them.
David:
I think that to me, these are icons which are available to
people in America—I mean, most people have heard of Edith
Piaf and Marlene Dietrich. But, if you were really to ask
Belle who are her musical influences, I think she would say
Arletty, the French actress (from the 1930s), or the singer
of the ’30s, Marie Dubas.
ATOMIC:
Mano, at the beginning of the set, Belle announced that there
was an mix-up and you didn’t bring your double bass to the
gig. I didn’t realize what she meant until half way through
the first song, I noticed that you were singing the double
bass parts. It sounded great—you sound exactly like a double
bass! Has this happened before?
Mano:
Thank you. Yes, we have played without the double bass before.
I have played without it during some smaller shows like this
one. However, I will definitely have the double bass for tomorrow
night’s show.
ATOMIC:
How has your first CD, "Paris Combo," been received in the
U.S.?
David:
Surprisingly well. It makes us very happy that people like
our music. When we made our first album two years ago, we
were just happy to make an album, that was our main goal.
For us to be over here in the States, playing our music and
selling albums, it’s fantastic and completely unexpected.
Francois:
That’s a reaction we actually don’t have in France. We sell
more CDs at concerts in the U.S. than in France in general.
Belle:
I think it’s because it’s a big big county here. France is
a small country. And I think it’s because in France, people
know they can find our music.
ATOMIC:
Do you enjoy touring?
David:
We like it a lot, even if it’s very exhausting. We especially
like when we tour here in the United States, because it’s
more intense than in France. We concentrate more concerts
in a shorter period of time. We have one concert, one plane—in
France, we don’t do that so intensively. It’s a great pleasure
to discover so many places.
ATOMIC:
Where do you see yourselves going with the group in the future?
Will you stay in the same style of music?
David:
Yes, but I think the music will get more feeling as we get
to know each other. The more we play with each other, the
more we know each other the more complete our music will be.
The only changes will be because Paris Combo will become richer,
and maybe that will make a change. It will be the same music,
but with more feeling. We’ll know each other more completely
and we’ll have a richer sound.
ATOMIC:
When is your second album coming out?
David:
Our second CD, "The Living Room," is already out in France.
It will be released in early 2000 (in the U.S.).
For
more on Paris Combo and to hear soundclips off their
debut album, visit the band on the Web at www.pariscombo.com.
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