Harlem à Limoges: A History of Jazz in Limoges

Jean-Marie Masse was born four hours south of Paris and halfway to the Pyrenees in the small city of Limoges, known around the world for its fine painted porcelain. The year was 1921. His father was a municipal engineer and hoped his son would move toward science. But when the talented Jean-Marie finished high school, he announced to his parents’ chagrin that he was moving in with his girlfriend’s family and becoming a visual artist. Oh non! His parents were distressed. Some of their son’s colorful painting is reproduced in the book—the companion to a recent exhibition—Harlem à Limoges: Une Histoire du Jazz à Limoges. When he finally he reached the legal age of 21, Jean-Marie married Paulette Morhange, and they found their own apartment near the center of town. Besides each other, they shared a passion for music. In particular, for jazz. Jean-Marie was already a record collector. One day he and Paulette got on a bike and pedaled to the nearby town of Montauban to meet for the first time an older jazz fan with whom Jean-Marie had been corresponding. He was Hugues Panassié—a writer, producer, and the founder of the Hot Club of France, a jazz fan club in Paris. Soon after the meeting, Jean-Marie taught himself the drums. Playing along to tunes in his expanding collection, he began to transform himself from fan to musician. And so when Panassié told Masse that he was