Banlieues Bleues Paris Jazz Festival

Jazz fans visiting Paris might instinctively attempt to track the ghosts of greats like Dizzy Gillespie or Django Reinhardt at some of the city's more classical jazz clubs, but the contemporary pulse of jazz-- with the exception of edgier clubs like New Morning-- is mostly now found in the northern suburbs. The Paris jazz festival dubbed Banlieues Bleues takes the northern towns of St Denis, Pantin and others by storm every year in the early spring, proffering a dizzying program of jazz talents from around the world. All genres, from Afro-Cuban rhythms, New Orleans style, to acid and experimental, are represented.

The 2013 Banlieue Bleues Jazz Festival is on from April 5th-26th and features a full roster of performances from fresh and established artists from around the globe, including the Surnatural Orchestra and the Magnetic Ensemble, Orlando Julius and the Heliocentrics, and Afro-Cuban ensemble Juan de Marcos.

This year's festival takes place at 20 different venues across the Seine-St-Denis region, making up several towns in Paris' northern suburbs. Main metro/RER stations include Aubervilliers - Pantin - Quatre Chemins, Porte de Pantin and Stade de France/St Denis. To get oriented, visit the welcome center at La Dynamo, located at 9, rue Gabrielle Josserand in Pantin (Metro Aubervilliers-- Line 7).

2013 Program Details and Venues

To view the full program and list of venues for the 2013 festival, visit this page at the official website. The program is exclusively in French, unfortunately, but you can find information on the show's location by clicking on the pink "en savoir +" links below each show description. The main program is also detailed below. For more information on venue locations and to buy tickets and passes, contact the festival by email at bb@banlieuesblues.org or call +33 (0)1 49 22 10 10.