Jazz, rock, French chanson, electro ... Paris offers all musical moods. As well as concert halls, the city is full of bars with live entertainment and unexpected places with a quality programme. To discover new artists and enjoy your favourite sounds in a different way, here's a selection of addresses for all kinds of music!
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La Mécanique Ondulatoire, le Pop In, le Point Ephémère, Le Gibus...
Rock and pop rock feature prominently on the Paris nightlife scene. Numerous places like the Point Ephémère and the Gibus put on live gigs several evenings per week. For Indie pop and folk music, Pop In is the place to go. And every Wednesday evening, the Balajo has a rock’n’roll night with sounds from the 40s and 50s.
© OTCP Amélie Dupont
Duc des Lombards, Caveau de la Huchette, Sunside...
Fans of blues, swing, ragtime and New Orleans jazz will love the capital’s many jazz hot spots. The top jazz players perform here as well as small groups for more informal discoveries. The Duc des Lombards was frequented by Henri Texier, Aldo Romano and Martial Solal. It hosts original musicians in a cosy atmosphere. Then on to Le Sunset and Le Sunside, two adjoining clubs with a programme of electric jazz at one and acoustic at the other. Fans of music played at cellar venues will know the legendary Caveau de la Huchette which plays traditional jazz and swing, or the Jazz Club Etoile that has hosted jazz headliners from Count Basie to Diana Krall and which is renowned in Paris for swing. The New Morning, known to regulars as ‘Niou’, is the largest capacity club in Europe and attracts a discerning crowd of jazz fans. For jazz, pop, soul and folk music, there is also the China. And finally, for all musical genres.
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Glazart…
The electro scene is becoming ever more popular in Paris and blossoming outside concert halls. The Glazart and others play a broad programme of edgy and emerging musical trends!
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Eglise de la Madeleine, Opéra-Comique, Théâtre du Châtelet, Palais Garnier, Théâtre de l'Athénée Louis Jouvet...
Although the Philharmonie is the Parisian home of classical music, the capital has many other magical venues for classical music enthusiasts. The Sainte-Chapelle, the Madeleine Church and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris all put on concerts and recitals. Some of the city’s bandstands programme concerts too. Classical music is also played in theatres. At the Théâtre du Châtelet, baroque flirts with operetta. Concerts at the Théâtre Athénée-Louis-Jouvet are held in a sumptuous Italian-style decor transporting the audience to Verona or Milan.
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Trois Baudets, Lapin Agile, Théâtre Essaïon, Lapin Agile...
French chanson takes many forms ranging from solo artists to neo-musette formations, ballads and protest songs, and can be heard in lots of places around Paris. At the Trois Baudets, a venue that encourages young French talent and promotes French chanson. Over at Vieux Belleville, chanson is decidedly retro with the live accordion and barrel organ playing of Riton la Manivelle, whilst at the Lapin Agile, the oldest cabaret in Paris, popular songs of Paris of yesteryear are always a great success!
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The sweet and harmonious sound of a choir is still and always will be a source of enjoyment. The new polyphonic generations are reinventing the genre, like the Cris de Paris who have daringly introduced vocalization and contemporary sounds into their concerts. Accentus, alias the Jeune Chœur de Paris, performs major works from the a cappella repertoire. They appear regularly at different venues in Paris. The vocal repertoire of the Jeunes Solistes explores the polyphonic works of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and baroque works, whilst also requesting new scores from composers worldwide. The Maîtrise de Radio-France is a choir renowned for its high quality and professionalism. More unusual is Mélo'Men, an amateur men’s choir of some fifty or so gay or gay friendly singers. To listen to masses or gospel concerts, check out the programme of Gospel Dream, a dynamically communicative mixed formation.
© OTCP Amelie Dupont
Théâtre de la Ville, Maison des Cultures du Monde, Cité Internationale Universitaire, Studio de l’Ermitage, Institut Suédois...
Paris is a little planet that you can circumnavigate for the price of a metro ticket. There are amazingly exotic musical experiences to be had at the corner of every street. In the different residences of the Cité Internationale Universitaire and at the Maison des Cultures du Monde, artists from all over the world perform and you can get to hear songs from Eastern Europe, Argentina and South Korea for a modest sum. The Studio de l’Ermitage welcomes music from around the world with a variety of weekly concerts: samba, K-pop, jazz … To hear Scandinavian groups playing, head to the Marais, near to the Institut Suédois or to the Champs-Elysées and the Maison du Danemark. And to continue your world music tour, take a look at what’s on at the Théâtre de la Ville, the Centre Mandapa and the Auditorium of the Institut du Monde Arabe.
© Antoine Poupel
Crazy Horse Paris, Le Moulin Rouge, Paradis Latin, Bel Canto ...
The musical world of the French cabaret and its cancan girls continues to bewitch the public. The Paradis Latin in its show Paradis à la Folie, led by a female artist expressing her love of Paris.
Where you seem up close to the artist
