Le Caveau de la Huchette
La mangave: French Jazz Trio & Strings
CHRISTIAN GENTET (b) JOHN BETSCH (ds) MATIAS PIZARRO (pf) CONSUELO URIBE (cello) CATHERINE GENTET-MARTINEZ (vln). Recorded at Studio Acces Digital, 2005.
Inside the Caveau
Le Caveau de la Huchette is a jazz club in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The building dates to the 16th century, but became a jazz club in 1946. The design has been compared to a cellar or labyrinth and allegedly it was once used by Rosicrucians and by those linked to Freemasonry.
Since becoming a jazz club it has been a venue for American greats likeLionel Hampton, Count Basie, and Art Blakey, as well as leading French jazz musicians like Claude Luter and Claude Bolling. Bill Coleman was an American expatriate in France who is also associated with the club.
It was featured in the film Les Tricheurs by Marcel Carné as well as other French language films. It is considered one of the important part of Paris’s nightlife in general. At present it is owned by French vibraphonist Dany Doriz.
The Cavern Club in Liverpool was inspired by Le Caveau, in which the Beatles played nearly 300 times
The club inspired the creation of the The Cavern Club, Mathew Street, Liverpool in 1957. The Beatles performed at the club nearly 300 times in their early years. Like Le Caveau The Cavern club was originally a jazz club changing to rock and roll when the music gripped the city. The Cavern became the centre of a musical renaissance centred in Liverpool in the 1960’s, based on rock and roll. The Cavern was similar inside to Le Caveau with tunnels and thick brick arches. Although extensively rebuilt, retaining similar arches and tunnels, The Cavern is still open today and the centre of a mini cultural quarter of the city. The Cavern Club is the centre of the Liverpool Mathew Street Music Festival, an annual music festival in Liverpool on the city centre’s streets and waterfront.
