• Place Blanche - Adjacent to Place Blanche is the site of Josephine Baker’s club, “Chez Josephine.” Known as the “Black Venus of Paris,” Baker became a French citizen and resided here from 1925 until her passing in 1975.
  After beginning her career in vaudeville shows in Harlem, Baker arrived in France in 1925 as a dancer for the NY Syncopated Orchestra, alongside a young clarinetist named Sidney Bechet. She headlined the orchestra’s new show, the “Revue Negre,” commissioned by the Theatre des Champs Elysées. This daring show featured 13 dancers, 12 musicians, and Josephine Baker, then 18, adorned in little more than feathers. Her captivating dance style enthralled the French, making her an instant star and icon.
• Rue Mansart - Next, we visit the bistro where Louis Armstrong would dine after rehearsals at the nearby recording studio. Here, he discovered the joys of choucroute (sausage & cabbage) and met local Gypsy Jazz musician Django Reinhardt.
• Rue Pierre-Fontaine - After visiting Josephine Baker, we will pause in front of Zelli’s, the legendary Parisian cabaret of the 1920s. It was the city’s most popular club, renowned for its avant-garde jazz music. Here, we “meet” the intriguing Eugene Jacques Bullard, son of a freed slave from Martinique. He became the first African American fighter pilot in history. Serving for the French, he flew 30 missions and downed two German planes, earning a promotion to Corporal and the nickname “Black Jacques.” After the war, he learned to play drums and was hired as a musician at Zelli’s, eventually becoming the manager. With support from Joe Zelli, he opened his own nightclub, the Grand Duc, offering a blend of hot jazz and soul food, making it one of Paris’s most popular clubs.
• Place Blanche - We will explore the Jazz Ladies and their legends. We meet Bricktop, the Queen of Pigalle, who arrived in Paris with just $24. After establishing herself, she mingled with royalty and celebrities.
  Then we “meet” Valaida Snow, hailed as the second-best trumpet player in the world (according to Louis Armstrong!). She played eight different instruments, sang, danced, and charmed audiences everywhere. A beautiful and talented woman, she became a star in Europe in the 1930s. In 1940, while performing in Denmark, she was arrested by the Nazis. Rescued in a prisoner exchange, she returned to the US a changed woman but recovered and continued her jazz career.
• Rue Victor Massé - Unfortunately, the club is closed, a casualty of Covid. However, in front of the club, we will hear the story of Alberta Hunter, an exceptionally talented blues singer. Having experienced the Jazz Age in both Harlem and Paris, she left music in the 1940s to become a nurse for 20 years. At 83, she was convinced to come out of retirement, relaunching her singing career and becoming a star once more with her exquisite voice.

• Live music during the tour
• Photo opportunities

• Food & beverages not included
• Hotel transfers not included

New Orleans is acknowledged as the birthplace of Jazz… yet, it was in New York and Paris, specifically in Harlem and Pigalle, that the Jazz Age thrived. When World War I ended, many African American artists migrated from Harlem to Paris, introducing a new genre of American-born music : jazz. Towards the late 1920s, Paris boasted more than 300 jazz clubs, bars, and cabarets, primarily located in Pigalle. This intriguing tale follows the men and women who established Paris as a Jazz hotspot, paving the way for the Roaring 20s.

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