Paris is alive with concerts and patios. I love this time of year.

In the last couple weeks I’ve seen Tinariwen, Gotan Project and Sharon Jones. Upcoming shows include Cinematic Orchestra, maybe Marcos Valle, Ba Cissoko and Nuru Kane, maybe another Toumani Diabaté show, Cowboys Fringants, and more…

A couple nights ago I also went to see Julien Jacob and Gerald Toto at the New Morning.

Julien Jacob is great. He’s a good performer and I enjoy his music, plus he conveys a warmth on stage that makes you want to buy him a beer.

With only himself on vocals, a percussionist and an acoustic guitar he managed to really engage the crowd and create a full sound. Looking around the room I spotted several people totally lost in his music. A typically Parisian world music crowd, at that.

I wrote about Julien Jacob on this site before so you know the deal.. born in Benin, raised in France. He still lives in Brittany in the north of France.

Despite what it might sound like at first he’s not singing in a Beninese dialect – that’s no language at all, but rather sounds that he’s come up with to go with the music.

He has a new album coming out this year. You can hear clips already on his MySpace page. If you haven’t already be sure to pick-up his first album, Cotonou.

Gerald Toto took over for the second half of the concert. Let’s just say I left early. It’s a shame because in the past I’ve liked some of his other stuff such as Toto Bona Lokua. This night he just sounded too… polished and predictable. He should stick to his vocal sampling tricks and/or shake-up his rhythms and melodies.

Julien Jacob – Yacob
Toto Bona Lokua – Lamuka