Jean Boulay
(ARTISTES LYRIQUES)
7 Rue la Vieuville, 75018 Paris, France

Baritone Jean Boulay has had a long career as a director, teacher and theatre/radio performer. In 1961 he attended the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he obtained first prize in singing. He worked with the Compagnie des Baladins Lyriques and the Théâtre de la région Parisienne. He was a soloist on Radio France’s chamber music programme and performed at the Festival d’Avignon. In 1982, he took over the direction of the l’Ecole de Musique de Vénissieux and spent more time teaching singing at the Conservatoire de Bourgoin-Jallieu.

Hector Grané
(Piano)
26 Rue Yvonne le Tac, 75018 Paris, France

Born in 1914 in Maipú, a province of Buenos Aires, Hector Grane was a pianist, bandleader and composer living in Paris from around the 1950s onwards. He made more than 100 recordings, both in his native Argentina and in Europe. In 1954 Astor Piazzolla came to Paris to study composition with Nadia Boulanger and stayed at Grané’s home due to restrictions on Piazzolla’s funds. Piazzolla would go on to record Grané’s tango Haydeé with his Octeto Buenos Aires.

Lucien Gallopain
(Guitare)
19 Rue Houdon, 75018 Paris, France

French jazz guitarist Lucien “Lulu” Gallopain was a contemporary of the great Django Reinhardt. They would fraternise in the same late night haunts (like Chez Jane Stick) and played together in the orchestra musette of Vetese Guérino. Bandleaders would often use one or other in their line ups, including the orchestras of Alix Combelle and Hubert Rostaing.

Pauline Julien
(CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
14 Rue Houdon, 75018 Paris, France

Quebecois singer Pauline Julien(1928-1998) made a name for herself in Paris singing the songs of Léo Ferré and Boris Vian. Equally popular in Canada she was an icon of Quebec song, interpreting almost exclusively Quebec authors from the 1960s. She moved to Paris in 1951 and had a reputation as an extraordinary cabaret singer with an expressive power and sensitivity. In the 1960s she moved back permanently to Canada but kept a foothold here in Paris at Rue Houdon. She received two Grand prix du disque from Paris’ Académie Charles-Cros, and was made a knight of the Ordre des arts et des lettres de France.

Tito Fuggi
(CHEFS D’ORCHESTRES)
86 R. des Martyrs, 75018 Paris, France

King of the tangos, Tito Fuggi was a musician, bandleader and prolific composer. At the age of 17 he joined the orchestra at the Lido as a bandoneonist, moving onto play with the great Francisco Canaro. He played at all the major venues across Paris, including the Moulin Rouge, Les Ambassadeurs and L’Olympia. In 1958, with Pierre Spiers and Jacques Medinger, he founded the first syndicate of conductors.

André Valmy
(COMÉDIENS)
83 R. des Martyrs, 75018 Paris, France

André Valmy (real name André Antoine Marius Dugenet) was a French film actor who appeared in more than 60 films between 1940 and 2001. Born in Paris in 1919, he considered himself a real Montmartrois. His father was the concierge at the Théâtre Antoine. He had a parallel career in France as a dubbing actor, including doubling for the voices of Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw and George Kennedy. He was previously married to Lorette Gallant.

See an object related to André Valmy HERE.

Charles Bellonzi
(Batterie)
79 R. des Martyrs, 75018 Paris, France

Drummer Charles ‘Lolo’ Bellonzi played with some of the greatest names in French and international jazz. Born in Nice in 1941 he moved to Paris at the age of 18. In 1960, he took part in his first recording, with the Golden Gate Quartet, and a year later was hired by Georges Arvanitas to play in his quintet at Club Saint-Germain. In 1963, he took part in the film Paris Blues, where he rubbed shoulders with Louis Armstrong , Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Between 1965-1968, he was part of Martial Solal’s trio, moving from there to join the orchestra of Claude Nougaro (1968-1980).

Pierre Gauthier
(Trompette)
79 R. des Martyrs, 75018 Paris, France

Jazz trumpeter who played in the French groove band Les Musiciens in the 1960s and later the French jazz orchestra, Giant, led by Janko Nilovic. In the 1970s Pierre Gauthier was in the bands supporting both Gilbert Bécaud and Claude François.

Chez Michou
(Cabarets)
80 R. des Martyrs, 75018 Paris, France

Michou moved to Paris in the early 1950s immersing himself in the nightlife of the city. He took over the bar Chez Madame Untel in 1956, transforming it into Chez Michou, the bar-restaurant and legendary cabaret that is still alive and kicking today. With his extravagant kitsch clothes and his famous blue glasses, the French singer and drag artist was taken into the hearts of the Parisians and especially the Montmartrois.

Yvette Giraud
(CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
76 R. des Martyrs, 75018 Paris, France

Destined for a career as an opera singer, Yvette Giraud was recruited to the Théâtre aux Armées, entertaining the British Armed Forces in 1945. She amassed an enormous back catalogue of sheet music and record releases, her output of singles alone is more than 100. Although a quintessential French singer she spent a large portion of her career in Japan, where her career flourished. Giraud was awarded the Order of the Precious Wisteria Crown by the Emperor of Japan. She later received the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres distinction from the French Minister of Culture.