A frog under the roof

Et bonjour tout le monde,

Jean Wiéner used to start all his radio improvisation with these words ("And hello to all"), a sort of ritual where he paid respect to whomever wanted to listen.

He was also there, with Cocteau, in the shadow of Louis Moysès (the founder), at the start of "le boeuf sur le toit". It was a mythical cabaret-bar in Paris where music happened in France, in between the two wars; all kind of music. Great names from France and elsewhere rushed in to these walls: Cocteau, Stravinsky, Hemmingway, Satie, Chanel, Tzara, Poulenc, Milhaud, Picasso just to name a few. I wish I were there (ok, just one night) amongst these inspiring musicians and friends, witnessing the debut of Jazz music in France, and listenning to Doucet (Wiéner's 2 pianos partner) arranging a theme by Bach, Chopin or Wagner "à la manière de...", and laughing and drinking bubbles.

I am in London in 2013 though, and there is no oax on the roof, but a froggie running concerts.  Most of the time they are too serious and sometimes people do not like music enough. I am pretty sure this can be fun too, should I drink more champagne at the intermission?

Anyway, these pages will be some sort of musical diary, for anyone interested (or not). To begin at the beginning, here are two videos of Wiéner and Doucet, hope you'll enjoy!

"Et voilà" ...