Chapter 52

With the arrival of Harlan’s band and others, Montmartre came alive again. For a while, the threat of war between Germany and Great Britain had scattered the musicians like ants. The cabarets had closed down and overnight Montmartre was transformed into a ghost town, leaving the Zazous without a place to revel in the American swing music that had come to define them.

The Zazous took their name after Cab Calloway’s hit “Zaz Zuh Zaz.” They’d thoroughly immersed themselves in swing culture, going so far as adopting Calloway’s style of dress, gliding back-step dance moves, and hep language.

During those grim days of September 1939 and the months that followed, Zazous could be spotted wandering the quiet streets, the men adorned in brightly colored zoot suits, broad brim hats, and suede shoes. The women slathered their lips in red chili pepper–colored lipstick, regaled themselves in miniskirts and ridiculously wide-shouldered blazers. They wandered hooked-armed in groups or alone through Montmartre’s streets, stopping at the shuttered cabarets, peering mournfully into the dark structures.

For a time, Parisian bands had tried to fill the void, but they were little more than tragic substitutes.

When the New Year dawned, and not a shot had been fired from Germany or England, Eugene Bullard and the other cabaret owners decided it was time to reverse the tides, to rekindle the soul of Montmartre, and set out to woo the musicians back.

The response was quick or none at all. Many had secured work in other countries, in other venues, or had returned home—to Harlem, Chicago, and St. Louis. One trumpeter explained in his telegram, It may be quiet now, but that don’t mean there ain’t a cotton mouth in the tall grass. He knew without consulting a map, globe, or atlas just how dangerously close Germany was to France, and it made him uneasy.

Lizard harbored similar misgivings, so when Harlan had first come to him with the opportunity, he had flat-out declined. Eventually, of course, Harlan wore Lizard down, and he got his way, just like always.