When U.S. Army regiments sent African-American soldiers to France during WWI, Black soldiers shared their lively jazz music with the sleepy farm towns and villages they encountered overseas, while diversifying their music palates with the sounds of French composers. This melding of musical culture helped jazz grow into an international sensation, and Black musicians brought a French influence back to America.
Two local musicians Jennifer Gallegos and Joshua Thompson are building on that history with their band Bon Temps (French for “good time”), which plays classical French music from the 1890s to 1930s.
“Our sound comes from conversations that were happening cross-continentally,” Gallegos said. “The French composers and jazz musicians are each other’s vertebrae. They work hand-in-hand. It’s a very loving and attached relationship. We are continuing on that vein, but we just haven’t gone over and lived there yet. We have coined it as a turn-of-the-century band. We encompass all the big, heavy-hitting French composers.”
Before Bon Temps got its start during the summer of 2016, Gallegos and Thompson had been distant friends. When Thompson saw Gallegos playing Brazilian tango music, he reached out to her in hopes of collaborating.
“It was one of those things where I listened to her and was like, oh my gosh she’s so awesome. We kept saying that we would get together, so I was like let’s bite the bullet and make this happen,” he said. “We had no idea what the other person was bringing to the table, and it was literally both a physical and metaphorical table. We were just throwing out music and seeing what we had in common.”
Thompson says he is hesitant to explain their sound, because he fears people will assume the music is too highbrow.
“People look at classical music, or any genre that they don’t understand, as being bigger or more mystical than it actually is. We want to keep the mystique, because that’s cool, but allow us to musically explain how accessible this music is,” Thompson said. “We can give you images and time periods, but you have to see it and hear it. What we want to do is to transport you to another place and time.”
Music lovers who want to get a taste of Bon Temps’ distinctive sound should make their way to The Jazz Kitchen, 5377 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46220, on Sunday, March 19, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at thejazzkitchen.com.
