Saturday, October 13, 2007

Tennessee Jazz

Not far from the apartment is Le Tennessee Jazz Bar. I've not been in, and there aren't any signs out front saying who plays there or what kind of place it is. But it struck me as odd since I'm not sure we would use the phrase "Tennessee jazz" in the US. We might talk about Memphis blues, or Tennessee country music. There is jazz in Tennessee, of course, but I'm not sure that "Tennessee jazz" is a unique genre. They probably just thought that Tennessee would be a clever American name to use. The image of the saxophonist on the sign is clearly of an African-American (in a zoot suit, it seems), so maybe they wanted to choose a southern state? But why not New Orleans or Louisiana jazz? Maybe the owner had visited Tennessee at some point in the past.

This one may remain a mystery, but it's always interesting to wonder about which parts of American culture the French choose to pick up on. What exactly do Parisians think of when they hear the name Tennessee? Apparently, some think of jazz.

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