Good evening at New Morning

Fal Frett, the Martinique group with whom I've enjoyed a wonderful association for the past 15 years recently performed in a very special place - the New Morning Jazz club in Paris, France.
Opened in 1981, the New Morning has featured performances by such jazz legends as Art Blakey, Pat Metheny, Stan Getz, Chet baker and Dizzy Gillespie just to name a few. Considered by the French to be the equivalent of New York's Village Vanguard or Blue Note, the New Morning is one of those marquis venues that every European jazz musician aspires to perform in.
While still coming to grips with jet lag and the fatigue of the previous day's red eye flight from Martinique, we stepped out of a cold grey Parisian February afternoon into the darkened club. The New Morning's subdued lighting, decor and aroma could only be that of a classic jazz club and we were all struck by the atmosphere and history that seemed to exude from it's walls.

A panoramic view of the club from the entrance hall

If the decor and ambiance were warm, the temperature definitely was not! and our group of thin blooded Caribbean musicians for the most part kept their sweaters on.
The first task was to assemble the vibraphone - isn't that what everyone does when they go in a jazz club?

We had to be quiet while the piano tuner tuned the Yamaha grand piano, this gave me an opportunity to walk around and check out some of the pictures...

We had a long afternoon setup and sound check, then another long wait for our performance at 9:30 (Or 21:30 if you are French).

Having spent so much time living in the Caribbean, it was interesting to again work in a colder, less humid environment. My alto sax behaved differently, the middle register G suddenly grew stuffy and the tuning on all three of my horns was a challenge. The experience reminded me of my time at Berklee College of Music in Boston where cold fingers in winter were par for the course. It would be nice to have more opportunities working under these conditions and particularly situations where I'm moving between performances in the Caribbean and much cooler winter jazz clubs and festivals.

Here is a video of our first song for the evening - the Fal Frett composition Cha Pistache

Our trip was made possible by Fal Frett's producer and label owner Don Miguel Elizabeth of Dons Music.
As you can tell from the video, Don Miguel's promotional efforts paid off and the room was filled with fans of Fal frett. Here is a pictorial review by Marie-Claude Bewa 

I should also mention that our hotel, the Hotel Magenta, was very nice with small but recently renovated modern rooms in an ancient but tastefully decorated building. Interestingly the elevator went to the 6th floor and my room was on the 7th which meant that I had to lug my suitcase up stairs that reminded me of a Harry Potter film. The staff were very pleasant and the breakfast was excellent. On the return journey I had to overnight in my Martinique home away from home - the Centre International de Séjour.

view from hotel in Martinique

view from the Hotel Magenta, yes this is a color picture and that is the sun!!

Here are two pictures, views from the two different hotel's windows capturing the contrast between the worlds of wintery Europe and the sunny Caribbean. Where would you prefer to be?