Paris Combo's AN EVENING IN PARIS Comes to Indy's Cabaret at the Columbia Club Tonight

By: Apr. 23, 2013
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With one foot in Gypsy jazz and the other dancing to Latin and North African grooves, Paris Combo celebrates the rich diversity of world styles in a chic Parisian cabaret style. Their off-center lyrical themes offer up equal parts comedy, surrealism, love-ballad, and biting commentary. Don't miss your chance to see this vibrant cabaret combo.

Paris Combo has released five studio albums, with Living Room becoming a gold record in France.

An Evening in Paris will be presented tonight April 23, 2013 at 7:30pm at The Cabaret at the Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis, IN. $10 valet parking available for cabaret patrons. Tickets: $45, $55, $65 ($12 food or beverage minimum). For tickets, call 317.275.1169, or order online at www.TheCabaret.org.

In the early '90s, Belle du Berry, Potzi and François Jeannin first performed together as members of the off-beat retro revue, Champêtres de Joie, playing acoustically in the historic Berry Zèbre cinema in Paris. Together they collaborated with French choreographer Philippe Decouflé at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Albertville. Du Berry met Australian musician David Lewis in 1994 when both were performers at the inaugural Cabaret Sauvage revue (now a popular venue in Paris) and it was not long before he joined the trio. They were then joined by bassist Mano Razanajato, forming what was to become Paris Combo.

From 1995-97, the group honed their unique style playing in cafés and on barges moored along the Seine. In 1997, the group released their eponymous first album on the now-historic indie label, Boucherie (Butchery), and began touring intensively in France. The band's popularity may have coincided with a swing revival in the mid-1990s, but Paris Combo played a more varied set than the retro swing bands.

Los Angeles Times's critic Don Heckman declared, "The group's music fits into the swing revival category...but their range of styles is far too eclectic to be bunched into a single category." Most critics agreed, attributing to the group such wide-ranging characteristics as French cabaret, rumba, flamenco, Gypsy swing, cool jazz, African, Latin and Middle Eastern styles.

Following on the heels of the success of their debut CD, Paris Combo released Living Room in Europe in 1999 and in the United States the following year. One of the last Boucherie releases, the album was soon re-licensed to Universal in France where it was a Gold-record, with 100,000 albums sold by the end of 2000. The group performed at the iconic Parisian venue, l'Olympia to cap-off the year's 120 concerts. This was followed the release of Attraction in 2001, a live album in 2002 and intensive touring in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.

In late 2004 Paris Combo released Motifs, produced by respected American sound engineer Oz Fritz. As a prelude to the CD's U.S. release, the group performed symphonic arrangements of their set with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. After a five-year break from touring, Paris Combo is now back, with a fresh batch of songs and a new release planned for 2013.

The Cabaret is a professional, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The mission of The Cabaret is to elevate and promote the cabaret art form by presenting the finest in professional cabaret performances and developing the next generation of cabaret artists.



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