The 1920s in Europe were alive with influences from all over the world. The Great War had ended and a sense of calm and prosperity could be felt throughout central Europe. One by-product of war is the cross-pollination of cultures and ideas. Young soldiers experience foreign places: apart from the experience of the worst of human nature and tragedy, they also experience new traditions, art, architecture and music. Upon returning to their home countries, they brought the new ideas with them. Politics and art were no longer local – they had become global. The urban areas were the centers for intellectual activity and Paris had become an artistic oasis for painters, poets and philosophers. The mode of communication and interaction was the street: cafes and night spots. Music was everywhere. It was exciting and new – uplifting and danceable.
The music of the dance halls and the street at that time had been ‘Bal-Musette’. It was a style of popular music beginning in Paris in the 1880s especially the 5th, 11th and 12th districts. In these districts Auvergnats settled in large numbers in the 1800s. They opened cafés and bars for dancing the bourrée to musette accompaniment (a bellows-powered bagpipe) and grelottière. The night spots had an air of intrigue and excitement and drew many Parisians and Italians. The Italians had settled in the 19th district of Paris and already played the diatonic accordion which was also used in the Auvergnat bars.
As Italian musicians appeared more frequently with new dances like the waltz and polka and a new hybrid accordion, disagreements began, and the Italian and Auvergnat musicians stopped working together. Performers of this era include Antoine Bouscatel, Émile Vacher, Martin Cayla, Charles Péguri and Gus Viseur.
By the end of the Great War there were three kinds of bals-musette:
- bal des familles – Auvergnat
- bal musette populaire’ – Italian
- guinche – seedy hangout for questionable charactersThe French upper-class, of course, began frequenting these establishments, looking for excitement among immigrant communities. Some night spots actually staged mock police raids to help maintain the illusion of intrigue.
Following the War, new musical forms were arriving in Paris like American jazz and the Argentine tango. These sexy new influences left their mark on bal-musette with dances like the waltz, tango, mazurka, pasodoble, beguine, foxtrot and java. Later, new instruments were added including the banjo, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, mandolin and bandoneon.
Oscar Marcelo Aleman 1909-1980
The tango also brought an awareness of other forms of Argentine dance music and musicians: Oscar Marcelo Aleman was born in Northern Argentina on February 20th, 1909. At the age of 6 he was dancing and singing with his family’s folk ensemble, the Moreria Sextet. At the age of 10, following his mother’s death, his father committed suicide. Oscar was suddenly alone and worked sporadically as a dancer and musician on the streets of Santos.
In 1924 Oscar began working with Brazilian guitarist Gaston Bueno Lobo. The duo was signed to the Argentine Victor label and performed under the name ‘Los Lobos’. They would occasionally add violinist Eleven Verdure and record under the name ‘Trio Victor’.
During the late 1920s Oscar discovered American Jazz by hearing recordings of Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti. He was hooked. He had already been exposed to Louis Armstrong and the beginning of ‘Swing’ but hearing the music on guitar was new. Oscar developed his own style of swing jazz and caught on with the Argentine public. Oscar saw an opportunity to broaden his appeal and moved to Paris where he was immediately hired by Josephine Baker to lead her band: ‘the Baker Boys’ at the Cafe de Paris. This provided him the opportunity to play with American Jazz musicians who would come to see Josephine and sit in with her band.
Oscar later formed his own nine piece band and played nightly at the Le Chantilly, across town from where Django Reinhardt and his partner violinist Stephane Grapelli would soon be performing at The Hot Club of