Bonjour de Paris ...
Chers Amis,
We are back in the swing of things after the summer season. I fear we are experiencing the last few days of sunshine and temperate weather before the fall rains begin. It looks like we will be enjoying overcast skies, temperatures in the mid sixties, and rain over the next nine or ten days. My crazy sleep patterns have returned after having had a relatively normal, at least for me, sleep cycle while in the U.S. this summer. It is amazing what a little sunlight can do! Don't get me wrong, Paris gets plenty of sun depending on the season, but having an apartment in the city often means having little direct sunlight due to the building heights blocking out the rays. In our case, the terrace gets sun which allows Leslie to garden, but not too much of that sun makes it's way inside. So I find that my crazy hours can become even more crazy in terms of when can get some sleep.
Over last weekend we did three very great nights at Chez Papa enjoying a great audience response. I don't know what it was about this weekend but there must have been around fourteen or fifteen people who had heard us at Chez Papa last year and were back again this year. Today, Sunday, Leslie had a concert with organist Rhoda Scott in Saint Maur Des Fosses, just outside of Paris. http://www.jazzenboucle.com/programme/ Right now she is packing to catch a train in the morning for an over-night in Dijon. She was invited to sing with a local band there tomorrow night. http://www.hotel-lacloche.fr She will be back on Tuesday afternoon having done five nights in a row in three different locations.
Leslie & Gerard at Chez Papa Jazz Club, Paris.
As for me, I am preparing the material for my classes at the International Music Educators of Paris College of Music. www.imep.pro./en/ As well as a myriad of promotional duties to keep things booked into next year. We have hired some help with booking more concerts and festivals in France so that I can focus on getting some bookings for festival concerts in regions that we have not yet approached such as the U.K. and Germany.
In early September we returned to Paris from La Baule and played a couple of concerts before leaving for four days in Barcelona. We chose Barcelona because we wanted a location that was new to us and most importantly, do something that had nothing to do with work. This being our first time there, we spent most of our time checking out the different neighborhoods and the city in general. We enjoyed the beach area, old town, Las Ramblas, etc. We found some great restaurants, and went to the Harlem Jazz Club that featured a decent blues band that night. The place was packed and somehow we found ourselves "sitting in". It was fun to play music but it was even better to leave the stage after two songs and not be responsible for anything beyond that. The next day we took the train to Sitges, a beach town about 30 minutes south of Barcelona. As we walked from the train station to the beach, around a 10 minute walk, we became very drawn to this town. It reminded us of Laguna Beach, that is if Laguna had a really strong Spanish architectural influence and buildings that date back to the Middle Ages. After fantasizing about living there, we decided that we couldn't actually pull that off, (at least not yet!) but we are seriously wanting to spend some time there every so often.
Hotel Mercure, La Baule, FR.
Street in Barcelona
Beach in Sitges.
Street in Sitges.
This Saturday we are working with Clément Blumen at Jazz Night at the Hôtel Le Cinq Codet in the 7th arrondissement near the Eiffel Tower. Friday we are at Monteverdi in Saint Germain des Prés. On October 18th we are at Cercle Suedois Rivoli Mercredi Jazz at 242 rue de Rivoli Paris 75001 https://cercle-suedois.com/rivoli-mercredi-jazz/ with Peter Giron and Mourad Benhammou, our Paris band.
"Fragile", our new recording, is available as a download on CD Baby at this link. https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/leslielewis5 Thank you to everyone who has already downloaded it. We hope that you are enjoying the listen.
Please check our website for news and updates. While you are there please sign up for our weekly email blast to learn where you can hear us. http://www.surfcovejazz.com
Until next time,
Leslie and Gerard
Please if you have any comments feel free to contact me at <gerard@surfcovejazz.com>. I enjoy hearing your thoughts. This email also appears on our website where you may comment as well. http://www.surfcovejazz.com/blog/
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LeslieLewis
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http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/leslie-lewis/id27976719
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/gerard-hagen-trio/id312875736