Harlem in Montmartre
A movie by Dante James and Olivier Simonet
Cast
Victor Goines — Clarinet, Saxophone
Brandon Lee — Trumpet
Michael Dease — Trombone
Aaron Diehl — Piano
David Pulphus — Double bass
Leon Anderson, Jr. — Drums
Yorgui Loeffler — Guitar
Guillaume Singer — Violin
Program notes
French musical culture underwent a significant transformation in the aftermath of the First World War. American soldiers who stayed in Paris after the war made Montmartre their home, introducing jazz—the music that had already captivated their homeland and would soon enchant their new one. Based on the book of the same name by historian William A. Shack, the documentary Harlem in Montmartre uses remarkable archive extracts to offer a captivating portrait of the greatest figures in this musical community—James Reese Europe, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, Bricktop, Eugene Bullard, and Django Reinhardt—and retraces a major chapter in the history of jazz in France.