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The American Influence – Revolutionaries, Writers, Artists and Jazz

Americans and Paris is a love affair where both parties have come out for the better. The American Revolution, greatly inspired by French writers, sent her heroes to give hope to the French. Writers and artists have flocked to Paris to be inspired and have, hence, built upon the city’s lore. American music has and still does today shake the club scene. American influence is tightly wrapped into the history of Paris!

Historical Content
The arrival of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and later Thomas Jefferson was seen as a sign of hope in France. These Americans who had freed America from royal rule  and signed the Declaration of Independence were lionized. They were seen as symbolic heroes! When Voltaire and Franklin kissed French style at the Academy of Science, present day Louvre, the crowds went wild and compared them to Solon and Sophocles.

Thomas Jefferson made a great impact on the salon society of the revolutionaries, and they taught him in return how to ‘live’. As a child of classical education, Thomas Jefferson dreamed of taking the ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe.  His wish would be granted in 1784, at the age of 41, when he was sent to Paris, eventually replacing John Adams as the American representative until 1789. During this time, Jefferson opened his mind to music, architecture, French savants and salons, science and elegant social life… all of which he would take back with him to embellish his own home in Monticello and life in the White House.

During his stay he took a daily walk in the Tuileries, marveled at the Hotel de Salm and amassed a collection of books along the quais that would later become the basis for the Library of Congress.  When he returned to America, Jefferson had 86 packing crates loaded with kitchen equipment, furniture, books and art!

Writers and Artists
Since the founding Fathers time, Paris has always been a destination for young scholars, writers and artists to expand their minds. Sylvia Beach first arrived in Paris when her father was ministering at the American church, but she made Paris her home years later after returning to do some writing research. She fell in love with the vibrant literary scene of the 1920s and opened Shakespeare and Company. Her bookshop immediately attracted French and Expat writers and artists. Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, George Antheil, Gertrude Stein and Man Ray were all friends and regulars for readings and discussions. Hemingway declared himself ‘her best customer’. Of all the poor writers of the ‘Lost Generation’, he was the only one who actually paid for his books!
Along with authors, American artists were also drawn to the Paris art scene. The artist Man Ray, after initial success in New York, moved to Paris to join the likes of Dali and Picasso in the surreal movement. He moved to the Montparnasse area where many artists were already living. In Montparnasse's heyday in the early 1920s, the cafés Le Dôme, La Closerie des Lilas, La Rotonde, Le Select, and La Coupole (all of which are still open today) were places where a starving artist could occupy a table all day for pennies. If they fell asleep, the waiters were instructed not to wake them.  Along with his model Kiki of Montparnasse and later Lee Miller, Man Ray took some of his most well known photographs and immortalized the faces of the leading figures of the ‘Lost Generation’.

Jazz
Paris after WWII was ready to celebrate its new freedom, and what better way to do that then to the new music brought over by American ally forces… jazz! Jazz clubs popped up overnight in the cellars of bars and restaurants in the Latin Quarter. Young people flocked to dance, and a number of African-American jazz musicians took up residence in France. The city offered black Americans plenty of working opportunities in an atmosphere of relative little racism.  Miles Davis, who came to Paris in 1949, met and fell in love with the French singer and actress Juliette Grecco. He was amazed by the racial tolerance he found. Juliette returned to the United States with Davis, but their relationship quickly broke under the strain of hotels and restaurants that would not allow them entrance.

The Paris Jazz scene is still alive and kicking today.  Clubs like the Caveau de la Huchette, who once hosted the greats like Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Sidney Bechet, Art Blakey, Claude Bolling, etc. still welcome new generations of jazz performers in the same old school ambiance. Paris also hosts the famous Jazz Festival in Parc Floral every summer.

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