Ray Ventura y su Orquesta de Jazz, Refrain chanté par Coco Aslan - Ménilmontant, Fox-trot (Charles Trenet), Odeon 1941
NOTE: Ménilmontant is a Station on Paris Métro, Line 2
Raymonde (Ray) VENTURA - (1908, Paris - 1979, Palma de Mallorca, Spain) was a French jazz bandleader. He played a significant role in popularizing jazz in France in the 1930s. Ventura played piano in a group called The Collegiate Five from 1924, which recorded under the name Ray Ventura and His Collegians for Columbia Records beginning in 1928. He led the group from 1929 and recorded for Decca, Odeon and other labels through the 1930s, becoming one of most popular dance ensembles in France in that decade. He led a big band in South America from 1942 to 1944 before returning to lead a group in France from 1945 to 1949.
Gregoire (\"Coco\") ASLAN - Armenian actor born in either Switzerland or Istanbul, he made his professional debut at 18 as a vocalist and drummer with Paris dance bands, then launched an acting career under the name of Coco Aslan. Shifting from comic to villainous parts with ease, Aslan was one of British filmdom's favorite nondescript foreigners, playing Frenchmen, Italians, Germans, and Middle Easterners with equal finesse. Gregoire Aslan's more prominent roles included gangster boss Ducas in \"Joe MacBeth\" (1956), Herod in \"King of Kings\" (1961), and Porthinos in \"Cleopatra\" (1963).
