The Jazzed Out series serves to take jazz music and drag it into the real world, away from smokey clubs and into carparks, cafes and underpasses. In a similar vein to Sonny Rollins famous, year-long hiatus on the Williamsburg Bridge in NYC, these musicians are then invited to play against the sky and the brickwork, test their sound against the elements and everyday bustle and feel, perhaps, a new sense of freedom in the process.
The Paris edition oscillates between the city's small pleasures (quaint alleys, rustic spots, charming street corners) and its postcard appeal (magnificent vistas with the Eiffel Tower peering back in the distance). Yet, the film does not romanticise the city – this is a modern image of a metropolis with graffiti, traffic, smoke and a certain nihilism lingering in the air.
The musicians add their own color to this milieu and particular highlights include Tigran Hamasyan, the prodigious Armenian pianist who dazzles deep in a garage somewhere, and Avishai Cohen, the enigmatic Israeli double bassist and singer who occupies an empty cafe.
