[PW] “So, we went to Paris and drove around the Arch of Triumph with Jean Louis and Simone Ginibre. Simone’s maiden name was Simone Chevalier and she used to sing with Bud Powell at the Blue Note in Paris. For seven years, she sang with Bud Powell and she did the same set for seven years. She’d have to write it out every night for Bud because he couldn’t remember what she was going to sing. [Both laugh] She was great. When they had kids, she missed the business so she started booking. Jean Louis came and got me and Chan and we went to Paris. He put a band together for me: Daniel Humaire on drums, Henri Texier on bass and George Gruntz on piano. It became the European Rhythm Machine.
[MN]: Later, George Gruntz was replaced by Gordon Beck.
[PW]:… and Ron Mathewson replaced Tex. But we always had Daniel on drums. Man, you know, from playing jingles and all that stuff, all of a sudden I’m playing every major festival in Europe because of Jean Louis’ influence and Simone booking us. Right off the bat we started recording for Pathe, the French label. We did a thing called Alive and Well. It was received very well and, man, I was off and running; five years of headlining and stuff. I’ve always been very grateful to the European culture that remembered me from ’59 and knew my work. They keep track, and it isn’t like you’re passe because you’re over 30, you know what I mean? They don’t rip a building down because it’s old; they don’t make a parking lot out of it.
Europeans are maybe not hipper than Americans but they’re certainly more aware of the culture. I don’t think the average Frenchman wants his daughter to marry a tenor man or an alto player or a trumpet player. But they realize the importance of these people within the culture; that the culture needs an alto player and a tenor player and a trumpet player, you know? It’s not weird, because jazz is loved in Europe as an original American art form. To this day, I make more money in Europe than I do in America. At this point in 2010, there are not a lot of gigs or tours in America. I still do well because I am who I am and I have a name so I get a gig. It’s not like it used to be but Europe is still pretty good. They still pay money and give you respect; they give you a room, a suite, and fly you first class and feed you well.”
Marty Nau, Interview with Phil Woods, 2010, Smithsonian Oral History Project