Fabulous Louis Armstrong on this clip from "Paris Blues"

[Larry Kart]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIHLJbttzGs

Sidney Poitier's tenor playing is dubbed by Guy Lafitte, Paul Newman's trombone playing by Billy Byers (or some I'm told; I would have guessed Urbie Green).

[Ted O'Reilly]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIHLJbttzGs

Sidney Poitier's tenor playing is dubbed by Guy Lafitte, Paul Newman's trombone playing by Billy Byers (or some I'm told; I would have guessed Urbie Green).

Yup, that's right. You would have guessed wrong. It's the "Battle Royal" session at the Maries Cave jazz club.

Byers taught Paul Newman how to at least LOOK like he was playing, and Lafitte did the same for Poitier. Duke Ellington provided the underscore, and the Klaus Stratemann book "Duke Ellington Day by Day and Film by Film" confirms this on page 433. On the underscore, it's Murray McEachern doing the trombone soloing, but Byers plays for Newman's character.

(edit to include close quote)

Edited October 3, 2008 by Ted O'Reilly

[Ted O'Reilly]

And in addition, appearing on screen and doing most of the actual piano-playing (other than the score) is Aaron Bridgers.

From the website www.marsclubofparis.com comes:

"Aaron Bridgers was the bar pianist at the Mars Club. He and Billy Strayhorn were a couple when they lived in New York. According to the biography of Billy Strayhorn, Lush Life by David Hadju, 'Most evenings, Strayhorn and Bridgers relived their treasured Cafe Society days at the Mars Club, where Bridgers was the house pianist. It was a little room in the eighth arondissement, off the Champs-Elysées.'

"Aaron Bridgers appears in Paris Blues in the role of pianist."

[JSngry]

It's not a great movie, not even a "good" one. but it's better than it could have been, or maybe even should have been. And the score is, for my money, Duke's best, even better than Anatomy Of A Murder.

[BruceH]

Thanks for this, Larry. Never did get around to seeing the movie.