Leslie Lewis & Gerard Hagen "Jazz from Paris"

Chers Amis,
 
It rarely happens but... we had last weekend free. So with some extra time on our hands we made up for the fact that we missed celebrating Thanksgiving for the first five years that we lived here and had Thanksgiving dinner with friends on Thursday, Saturday and Monday night.  The reason that we were free was that our concerts in Minsk and Riga were postponed until a later date. Having previously experienced Minsk in January,  we're okay if they wait until spring to bring us back.  So Leslie and I had the time to go to "The Real McCoy" which is a store in Paris where one can purchase food that is typically found in America. We bought things like cranberries and stuffing mix that aren't available in local grocery stores. On Thanksgiving day we had a great time eating dinner with the Giron family. That holiday got started on the right foot with a delicious meal shared with good friends. Saturday night we were with Joan Minor, a jazz singer and another good friend. She and her husband Paul hosted fourteen people for dinner. It was a lovely evening during which Joan asked each guest to put an ornament on her Christmas tree as they were saying their goodbyes. By the time the evening was winding down, her tree was well on the way to being decorated.  On Sunday we rested and then we did it all over again at our home on Monday night with Sacha Boutros, our friend and fellow jazz singer from San Diego, who is now living in Paris. That evening we put the groceries we had bought at "The Real McCoy" to good use.

Speaking of Sacha, she is doing a "Women In Jazz" show at Duc des Lombards on January 2nd, 3rd and 4th.  The show will feature Sacha with three other jazz women of note including Leslie, Michele Hendricks and Janis Siegel. Michele is the daughter of jazz legend Jon Hendricks and of course you know Janis Siegel from her work with Manhattan Transfer; so three nights and three jazz women with Sacha and her band. If you are in Paris, you gotta be there!  https://ducdeslombards.com
 

Leslie's birthday was the day before Thanksgiving. We had her celebratory dinner with our friends Lois and Mariya at her favorite Parisian restaurant called "The Cod House".  It serves small plates like a tapas restaurant, but the cuisine is Japanese with an emphasis on sushi, sashimi and other seafood. Besides the incredible food, I dig that they have decorated the walls with a neon sign that reads "Oh My Cod" and another sign that reads "Stop trying to make everyone happy, you're not tequila"! When you are in Paris you should definitely check it out.    https://www.thecodhouse.fr        

Richel and Ken Nash, friends who used to come and hear us in California, were visiting Paris and came to hear us at our recent Jazz Night at Les Deux Magots concert. It is always good to see our friends here.


Leslie has done it again!  We brought home a Christmas tree last Friday night and she brought forth a home beautifully decorated for Christmas. I think it's her best work to date.
 

We are going to be busy in Paris for the next few months with just a few short trips here and there. Once again we are ending the year with a four night run at Chez Papa Jazz Club which will culminate on New Years Eve. We are thrilled to have bassist Bruno Rousselet join us. Looking ahead, we will be on the road a bit this spring, and summer is looking busy as well. It's possible that we will be in New York and that general area in August. I don't think that we will make it all the way to California, but we aren't going to have the relaxing summer we enjoyed last year. In fact we have dates booked all the way into May 2021.

Paris is about to experience a general strike which will affect transportation.  We should be ok since we can walk to our gigs in town, but it will mean that twice a week I will have about an hour walk to get to my teaching gig in Montparnasse. Of course it'll be the same walk home so hopefully there will be some time to rest before going to work at night. I do have to get to a gig in the 15th arrondissement in Paris in December which could become an issue depending upon how the negotiations between the unions and the government go. We are a bit concerned because we have a four day trip to Madrid right before Christmas so there is the little matter of getting to the airport during a transit strike. One can only hope that someone will be in the control tower so that our flight can get off of the ground. 

For those of you in Paris or if you’re planning to visit, here is our Décember schedule to date.  

Dec. 7-8  Leslie Lewis and Gerard Hagen perform at Monteverdi in Paris. http://www.lemonteverdi.com

Dec. 12  The Leslie Lewis Gerard Hagen Paris Duo performs at Chez Papa Jazz Club in Paris.  http://www.papajazzclub-paris.fr

Dec. 13-14  The Leslie Lewis Gerard Hagen Paris Trio performs at Chez Papa Jazz Club in Paris. Friday with bassist Peter Giron and Saturday with Bruno Rousselet.  http://www.papajazzclub-paris.fr  

Dec. 17 Gerard & Peter Giron perform with vocalist Emilie Forbin at Bistro Le Monclar in Paris. 

Dec. 18 The Leslie Lewis Gerard Hagen Paris Duo performs at Café Laurent Jazz Club in Paris.  http://www.hoteldaubusson.com/en/cafe-laurent.html

Dec. 27-28  The Leslie Lewis Gerard Hagen Paris Trio with bassist Bruno Rousselet performs at Chez Papa Jazz Club in Paris.  http://www.papajazzclub-paris.fr  

Dec. 30-31  The Leslie Lewis Gerard Hagen Paris Trio with bassist Bruno Rousselet performs at Chez Papa Jazz Club in Paris.  http://www.papajazzclub-paris.fr 

Jan. 2 Leslie with Sacha Boutros at Duc des Lombards in Paris https://ducdeslombards.com   
Jan. 3 Sacha w/ Michele Hendricks
Jan. 4 Sacha w/ Janis Siegel

Thank you to everyone who has already downloaded "Fragile", our new recording.  It is available as a download on CD Baby at this link.  https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/leslielewis5 

 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

Thanks for staying in touch with us.

Until next time,  Leslie et Gerard