Henri Jouot
(Saxophone, Clarinette)
1 Vla Saint-Michel, 75018 Paris, France
Saxophonist and clarinettist Henri Jouot was a member of Jacques Denjean’s orchestra in the 1960s. He will be best remembered by international audiences for his recording session with The Gigi Gryce Orchestra. Gryce was touring with Lionel Hampton when he cut a 10” disc at the Vogue Studios (Schola Cantorum) in Paris. The record featured Jouot (Baritone Saxophone), Clifford Brown, Quincy Jones, Art Farmer and two other Montmartre residents Benny Vasseur (trombone) and Fernand Verstraete (trumpet). In the 1980s he would play with the Jean Loup Longnon Big Band and Eddy Mitchell.

Jean-Claude Deblais
(Guitare)
19 Rue Fauvet, 75018 Paris, France
Although Jean-Claude Deblais worked as a guitarist with Pascal Danel during the 1960s it wasn’t until the following decade that he made his mark on the French music scene. In the 1970s he worked with a broad mix of artists, including the psychedelic fusion band of Jean Cohen-Solal, Stefan Navarro, Christian Dente, Valérie Ambroise, Monique Morelli and fellow Montmartre resident Jean-Roger Caussimon. It would be his library music that warrants closest attention, two albums for the Patchwork label, in particular Le Miroir Du Fantastique (1977), a selection of experimental soundtracks ideal for spooky, strange, surreal, and sci-fi films.

Gérard Leveque
(CHEFS D’ORCHESTRES)
7 Rue Fauvet, 75018 Paris, France
Clarinettist and bandleader Gérard Leveque played an important role in bringing the music of Django Reinhardt to life. At the age of 19 Levêque dropped out of law school to follow his passion for music and was soon playing beside the great gypsy jazz guitarist. While Reinhardt composed, expressing himself on his guitar, it was Gérard Leveque’s task to transcribe the notes to paper. Reinhardt would return the favour, playing with his friend on a number of radio broadcasts in 1949. During the 1960s, when he lived here, he wrote, arranged and orchestrated for such diverse talent as The Delta Rhythm Boys, Les Chaussettes Noires, Claire Chevalier, Marcel Amont, Sacha Distel, and Charles Aznavour.

Max Elloy
(COMÉDIENS)
11 Rue Ganneron, 75018 Paris, France
Parisian Max Elloy (1900-1975) had two distinct careers in show business. First as a jazz drummer in the 1930s alongside such greats as Django Reinhardt, André Ekyan, Alain Romans, Stéphane Grappelli, Henri Salvador, Ray Ventura, and his neighbour Gérard Leveque. Then from the 1940s, as an actor in screen musicals and comedies including several Jean Boyer films; Mademoiselle s’amuse (1948); Une femme par jour (1949); Nous irons à Paris (1950); and Nous irons à Monte-Carlo (1951). He would develop his skills over the next 25 years, playing character roles in more than 50 films.

Lita Mirial
(CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
15 Imp. de la Défense, 75018 Paris, France
In the late 1950s singer Lita Mirial released a number of successful EPs with her husband Marcel Rossi on the Decca label. Spanish born, she arrived in Paris from Marseille in 1956, where she quickly made a name for herself singing the song La marchande d’anémones in the cabarets of Paris.

Maurice Blanchot
(Piano)
2 Pass. de Clichy, 75018 Paris, France
Maurice Blanchot graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris with a first prize for piano in 1954. He would go on to play around the world with tours in Israel, Hungary, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Italy and North Africa. He recorded a series of LPs for young pianists, but the most fascinating (and rare) are those he released with the French physician and novelist André Soubiran. With music by Blanchot and the voice of Soubiran, they had such titles as Soyez Belle Pour Retrouver La Ligne Après L’Accouchement (Be Beautiful To Find The Line After Childbirth) and Soyez Belle Pour Combattre La Cellulite (Be Beautiful To Fight Cellulite).

Roger Morris
(CHEFS D’ORCHESTRES)
10bis Pass. de Clichy, 75018 Paris, France
Roger Morris was percussionist with the mambo infused Parisian orchestra of Eddie Warner in the 1950s. He fronted his own orchestra in the 1960s as Roger Morris Et Le Madison Club De Paris. The orchestra recorded an LP and a few EPs. They were active on the dinner dance circuit, playing at local fêtes and for various sporting and social associations.

Jacques Gilet
(ARTISTES LYRIQUES)
130 Bd de Clichy, 75018 Paris, France
French tenor Jacques Gilet appeared alongside the Orchestre Lyrique De L’ORTF (Orchestre Lyrique de Radio France) at the end of the 1960s and early 70s. Productions included François-Adrien Boieldieu’s Les Voitures Versées, and Geneviève De Brabant, an opéra bouffe by Jacques Offenbach.