May 3/05
Dakar Paris
I apologize for not posting these last few weeks. I’ve been busy with my move to Paris.
I’m in Paris now and in the process of furnishing my place and hooking up power, Internet, etc. I should be good to go by the weekend or early next week at the latest.
Any tips on good record shops and live listings for African music in Paris?
Hello !
I don’t know if your french.
So i’ll tell it in english
One live may interest you.
Konono N°1
4th of june at the new morning.
Dj Alfred Hitchcock magazine from Paris too
CHOCOMIX
Laboratoire de recherches scientifiques sur la fête
chocomix@laposte.net
Mahmoud Ahmed is playing with Gétatchèw Mèkurya on saxophone at the Théatre de la ville on may 18 but it’s already sold out! I will try to buy tickets outside on the evening!
Good luck for your arrival in Paris and thank you for all the great music!
I have been in Paris for holidays 2 weeks ago, which I spent mostly “hunting” for records stores and flea markets. (Fortunately my wife is very tolerant…) So I can give you some addresses, at least as written on the plastic bags that I still have here. But I don’t know if they have much african music, since I’m looking for funk/soul/jazz on vinyl.
Parallèles, 47 rue Saint-Honore + 36 rue des Bourdonnais, 75001 Paris
Copa Music, 14 rue des Precheurs, 75001 Paris + 52 rue Jules Valles, 93 St Ouen
Crocodisc (my favorite!), 42 rue des Ecoles + 54 rue de la Montagne Sainte Geneviève, Paris 5e
Street Sound, 6 rue Ganneron, 75018 Paris
And of course there are a couple of shops on the Marches aux puces de Saint-Ouen (Metro 4, Porte de Clignancourt) along rue Jean-Henry Fabre, open Sat, Sun, Mon.
Rue Doudeauville — lots of great west african cassette (audio & video) shops
Welcome to Paname!
Now that you’re here you’ve gotta meet Nicolas Gueye, he’s got a vieux de la veille who’s got a lot of the rights to the original Starr Band and early Youssou stuff. he’s got a record store with plenty of vinyl here in the 12th. Great guy to meet.
Drop me a line and I’ll send you his number.
I dunno what others’ll have to say but the afro-music scene isn’t anything what it used to be a decade ago.
Lampa Fall (he’s big here too!) on rue de Doudouville is the biz for nouveautés from sunugaal.
Espace Glenn on the rue de Marcadet is top for 70s/80s soukouss. Next time you’re there, ask for the DVD they have of Franco’s 25th anniversary video, first broadcast on Congolese TV… Pure magic!
As for live music, the Peniche Guingette can be fun. You’ve got to check out Yousou’s bar in the 4th – Joko – which is definitely worth a visit, so too is the Village on ave de parmentier. Dunno about the New Morning these days, but their site is still wwww.newmorning.com i guess.
Unfortunately, the best places are all long gone… If only the Petit ‘Tam Tam were still open and we’d really have something to talk about!
Thank you so much for all the postings. I particularly dug the Stella Chiweshe. This music blows me away. I hope you can still continue to post music for all of us to discover. Enjoy Paris !
Bellot Records
http://bellotrecords.free.fr/index.htm
This will be the shop of Nicolas Gueye that Pete_s is talking about…
SEARCH AND FIND L IN JAPANESE
Last quick plug: go visit Marcel Boum at the Lion Indomptable. He makes one of the tastiest ndoles in Paris. Thursday nites are fun (live music). Marcel’s also had a long career as a concert organizer so he’s a big music (and football) fan!
Wow, I LOVE Mahmoud Ahmed. Anyone know where else he is touring?
Benn loxo du taccu,
I remember reading this article a few years ago. Googled it right back up this morning.
Enjoy!
Regards,
John
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?021014fa_fact2
THE CONGO SOUND
by SUSAN ORLEAN
How a record store in Paris became a center of African music.
Issue of 2002-10-14 and 21
Posted 2002-10-07
Hervé Halfon, a French person who hates French people, owns a record store on the Rue des Plantes, in Montparnasse, just a few Métro stops from the Eiffel Tower but spiritually closer to Avenue Gambela, in Congo, or to the Mokolo district, in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The store is called Afric’ Music. It has a small sign and an unremarkable window display, and it’s about the size and shape of a Parisian parking space. Inside, Hervé has spared all expense on the décor. Besides the floor and ceiling and one long counter, the store is nothing but rows and rows of CDs in racks and on shelves and in piles, all of them devoted to African music, except for a section reserved for the music of the Caribbean. A sound system sits somewhere behind the counter, out of view and, more important, out of reach of any customer who might want to, perhaps, switch the new N’Dombolo recording for something by M’Pongo Love. The sound system is on, loud, all the time. If you walk down the Rue des Plantes, you will at first hear just the usual rumbling and tootling and clattering sounds of a Paris street, and then, as you pass the open door of Afric’ Music, you will be blasted by a few bars of a Congolese ballad, and as soon as you step past the door the ballad will suddenly be out of earshot and the Paris street sounds will resume, as if you had walked through a harmonic cloudburst.
The (in)Complete Musicblog Listing v.1.0
When you want something offbeat, vinyl-only or unheard-of; you want to take a look at these EXOTICA/OBSCURE sites: 365 Days, April Winchell, Basic Hip Digital Oddio , Belly Bongo, Cake and Polka Parade, Cinema VII, Dana Countryman, Ditties for the Par…
Bienvenue à Paris
even if African music is not his main domain, you should go and check Chez Youri record shop in rue d’Argoult, a small walking street in the center of Paris.
Have you seen the free gig of a reunion of Super Rail Band and Ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako at gare de Lyon last sunday ? couldn’t stay long because i was with my kids but i think Kanté Manfila, the great guitar player, was playing there late !!!!
As an african music lover you couldn’t arrive at a better moment in Paris. I think that people finally realise how under rated the Paris scene is since 20 years. African, Haitian, the best music is played in Paris with a 50/50 institutional, official audience (like for Mahmoud Ahmed at Théatre de la Ville) and “ambiance pays” gigs mostly in the suburb or huge venues like Koffi Olomidé at Bercy.
Check the flyers and poster near Barbes or Chateau d’eau metro station
i guess you understand french so check my blog (started 1 month ago)
http://dubruit.blogspot.com
peace
oh, it seams like people forgot about Africa Productions on rue de la Chapelle? Go to Porte de la Chapelle and walk for some minutes, in the direction towards town.. for me, it is their place and Lampe Fall that are the main attractions when it comes to records and dvds.
I’ve been talking about your site to people today…
Hi everyone.
This might be a long shot, but I’m wondering if anyone in this forum might be able to help me with some guidance.
I’m going to Senegal in december, and I’ll be in Dakar for some days. I was wondering if any of you know where to go and shop for 60′s and 70′s funk, soul, jazz on vinyl down there. I’m just interested in the Africa stuff, that might be sitting around in shops down there.
Anyone?
Kind regards,
Kasper