It is Paris, 1961. Word has flashed through the city that royalty is in town. Jazz royalty. Duke Ellington is staying at the Hotel de la Trémoille, off Avenue George V, as is Louis Armstrong. Both men are at the height of their fame and powers, so a photographer is dispatched from Paris Match to capture the meeting of the giants.

They agree to appear on adjoining balconies, while, in the street below, members of their respective orchestras play – a friendly battle of the bands. In the ensuing photograph, Duke is regally raising his hand, as if greeting his subjects, while Armstrong is waving his trademark white handkerchief (originally used to hide his finger movements from rival trumpeters who might try to mimic his formidable technique), and both wear smiles of great glee.

Forty-seven years later, the woman standing next to me in front of the same image, which hangs in the foyer of La Trémoille, points at Satchmo: “My mother was a dancer with Louis Armstrong. Not when this was taken, but earlier. My parents always promised to bring me to Paris. They never did, so I thought I’d better get myself here.”

Ricki Stevenson is a journalist and broadcaster who runs black-history tours of Paris. And a lot of that has to do with jazz. “All round here,” she says, waving her arms, “was jazz central.”

Top 10 budget hotels in Paris

Sarah Turner finds hotels in the French capital for under £110, from monastic charm to bordello chic

• Stylish stays in the heart of Paris for £70

• 8 Paris hotels extraordinaire

Fine dining up the Eiffel Tower

Paris has a new landmark - an Alain Ducasse restaurant 125 metres up the Eiffel Tower

A one-room hotel in Paris

You can spend a night in an art installation pod facing the Eiffel Tower - just join the very long queue

Related Internet Links

• More from the France section

Related Links

• 10 classic Paris travel ideas

By “here”, Ricki means the golden triangle of the Champs-Elysées and Avenues George V and Montaigne – these days associated with exorbitantly priced shopping, sleeping and eating. “Duke loved this hotel. Armstrong would stay here or at Powers, on Rue François, because they let him cook his own food in the kitchen.

“Josephine Baker lived on this very street after the war. In the Fifties, Sidney Bechet had his own club across on Rue Pierre Charron.” In the Thirties, he had a gunfight with his bass player on stage because the bassist wasn’t keeping time. Three people were wounded in the crossfire and Bechet spent a year in jail. He was a hard taskmaster.

The photograph of Duke and Louis we are staring at was stored in La Trémoille’s basement for years. When the hotel was renovated, the neglected picture was uncovered and the management subsequently decided to create two new “jazz suites”, one named after Ellington, the other Armstrong, which opened this year.

When not occupied, they sometimes form part of Ricki’s tours. Both are elegant, understated and huge: there is room to swing a very hep cat in there.

But why is Paris steeped in jazz history in a way that, say, London isn’t? “That’s because of the Harlem Hellfighters,” Ricki says, and she tells the story of the Afro-American infantry unit from the first world war and James Reese Europe, its band leader, who brought to Paris what Alex Ross, in his masterly book on 20th-century music, The Rest Is Noise, calls “syncopated music that was a step or two away from jazz”.

Europe was one of the first people to travel back to America to tell a story of a promised land, where black players were welcome and their music taken seriously. You could argue that it was Europe who first released the musical virus of jazz that found such a perfect host in Paris.

Later that night, sitting at the bar of a crowded club called the Duc des Lombards (see info below), watching astonishingly assured young French pianist Baptiste Trotignon captivate the audience, I ask the same questions of expat Mike Zwerin. In his own way, although he would bristle at the description, Zwerin is Parisian jazz royalty.

A stellar writer on the subject, including the excellent Parisian Jazz Chronicles, and friend of Dexter Gordon and Miles Davis, he is also a gifted trombone player. When Zwerin was 18, Davis recruited him for what is known as the Birth of the Cool band.

When I mention this, he shakes his head: “Yeah, that was 60 years ago. How long can I keep playing that card? It gets a little embarrassing.” I remind him that in his book, he says everything always comes back to Miles.

He nods, smiles at the truth of it, then answers my question: “I think jazz took root in Paris because American musicians could get work permits here easily and they were well looked after. The French got to play with them, which encouraged and influenced the local musicians. That was very important. It’s still possible to go out and hear good jazz in this city almost every night.” He cocks an ear: “Why do saxophonists always have to play in double time?”

He’s right, not only about sax players, but that there’s excellence to be found, not just in the clubs but also over the next few weeks at the Paris Jazz Festival, one of the great bargains of the genre. This year, it takes place every weekend from June 7 to July 27 at Parc Floral, an attractive area of woods and lakes at Château de Vincennes.

There you can see artists of considerable standing for the price of admission to the park: a whisker under £4. In previous years, I’ve watched well over 2,000 people being mesmerised by the ruminations of Brad Mehldau and the trumpet of Wynton Marsalis.

This time round, the trumpet stars du jour are Erik Truffaz (June 7) and Tomasz Stanko (June 15); and there are performances by the likes of the James Taylor Quartet (June 28), Dianne Reeves (July 20) and Angélique Kidjo (July 19). The main concerts start at 3pm; if you want one of the 1,200 seats (plastic, bring cushions), you need to get there early, but it’s as much fun to bring a picnic and enjoy the jazz in a city where it feels right at home. James Reese Europe’s benign virus is still here and thriving.

Travel details: Hotel de la Trémoille (00 33-1 56 52 14 00, www.tremoille.com) has an And All That Jazz package to tie in with the festival. A night in a jazz suite, with breakfast, cocktails, the Complete Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington Sessions CD, a picnic blanket and bottle of wine, costs £780 for two. Less starry rooms are £380.

Ricki Stevenson’s Black Paris tour can be booked on 01 46 37 03 96 or at rickis@club-internet.fr, and costs £40 for a half-day, £72 for a full day. Getting there: Eurostar (0870 518 6186, www.eurostar.com) operates up to 17 daily services from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord; from £59 return. There are flights to Paris from more than 20 UK airports; try Air France (0870 142 4343, www.airfrance.co.uk), EasyJet (www.easyjet.com), British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) and Flybe (0871 700 2000, www.flybe.com).

Further information: Mike Zwerin’s The Parisian Jazz Chronicles is published by Yale at £16. Read him at www.mikezwerin.com. For details of the Paris Jazz Festival, go to www.parcfloraldeparis.com and www.parisjazzfestival2008.com.

— Robert Ryan’s latest novel, Empire of Sand (Haadline, £13) is out now.

The jazz joints

Mike Zwerin’s advice for anyone wanting to hear the best jazz the city can offer is simple: “Go down to Rue des Lombards, where you have a choice of three clubs straightaway.”

The Duc des Lombards (42 Rue des Lombards; 00 33-1 42 33 22 88, www.ducdeslombards.com) has recently been renovated and has “a great sound system”. There are usually two sets, at 8pm and 10pm; get there early at weekends. Admission from £15 up.

“Then, just down the street, you have Sunset-Sunside.” These two clubs at 60 Rue des Lombards (01 40 26 21 25, www.sunset-sunside.com) are stacked above each other; upstairs tends to be electric, downstairs acoustic jazz, but they mix and match. Prices from £8.

He also rates Autour de Midi (11 Rue Lepic; 01 55 79 16 48, www.autourdemidi.fr; various prices). A “jazz cave” in Montmartre, it’s “a really nice, intimate place – you won’t see big stars, but good local players”.

Elsewhere, if you like female singers or tango, take a look at the programme at the Swan Bar (165 Boulevard du Montparnasse; 01 44 27 05 84, www.swanbar.fr; often free with one-drink minimum).

The celebrated and somewhat spartan New Morning (7-9 Rue des Petites Ecuries; 01 45 23 51 41, www.newmorning.com; from £15) is still going strong, although with more world music in the mix.

If you want smoother jazz and swing music – or a good Sunday “jazz brunch” – the venerable Jazz Club Lionel Hampton, at Le Méridien Etoile (81 Boulevard Gouvion St Cyr; 01 40 68 30 42, www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien; £20, £36 with brunch), is a large, upmarket supper-club-type room.

Times recommends

• Confessions at 39,000 feet - your stories
• Europe's 20 best Christmas markets 2009
• Cruise passengers say: ‘We’ll tip when we want to’