"… over there, behind the Panthéon,
rue Descartes, where Paul Verlaine died."
(Paul Fort)

A tribute to Gilbert Imbar

For nearly twenty years, 42 rue Descartes — commonly known as the "Club Plein Vent" — was home to several enterprises entirely devoted to promoting the guitar, flamenco and poetic song, a cultural landmark that animated the Mouffetard neighbourhood until the late 1970s.

In 1952, Gilbert Imbar founded the Plein-Vent bookshop, renamed nine years later Connaissance de la guitare. The enterprise combined bookselling and stationery with publishing and "artistic events in all their forms".

In the basement, Imbar uncovered a 13th-century vaulted cellar, which he converted into a small concert hall for around thirty people.

Guitars and songs

It was in this cellar that Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya gave their first duo performance together, shortly before the founding of the "Club Plein Vent des amis de la guitare et de la chanson" (14 November 1953). Weekly evenings showcased the many facets of the guitar, featuring the Opéra guitarist Jean Lafon, jazz guitarist Henri Crolla and flamenco artist Roman el Granaino.

The Club went on to present regularly Christian Aubin, Teddy Chemla, José-María Sierra, Ramón Cueto, Sebastián Maroto and Jürgen Klatt; from 1960, Bernard Pierrot; from 1962, José Peña, José Martínez and Paolo Pilia. Occasional guests included Alirio Diaz, Niño Ricardo and singers Jacques Bertin and Jacques Douai.

The Paris Guitar Academy

In 1953, Gilbert Imbar founded the Paris Guitar Academy, with Henri Sauguet, Maurice Cullaz and Fernando Fernandez-Lavie as patrons, and Ida Presti as its first President. Its main focus was teaching — sixteen years before the guitar was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire (Alexandre Lagoya's class, 1969–1994).

After the founding teachers (Jacques Chaumelle, Enrique Soto, Christian Aubin and Michel Woop), the Academy welcomed Ramón Cueto, Alain Mitéran and José Peña. Classes were held in groups of four students to keep costs accessible.

From March 1964, new events were added: the Lundis de la poésie (Poetry Mondays) under Pierre Seghers and Luc Bérimont, and the Veillées de la chanson (Song Evenings) led by Jean Vasca. The Academy also created the Prix Henri Crolla, awarded to Jean Ferrat (1964), Jean Vasca (1965), Jean Sommer (1966) and François Nery (1967).

The Guitar and Music review

In May 1955, the Academy published the first issue of the bimonthly review Guitare, retitled Guitare et musique two years later. Alongside guitar news and Club activities, it offered in-depth articles, historical studies, original scores, technical pages and sections on French poetry and song. Regular contributors included Hélène Jourdan-Morhange, René Dumesnil, Maurice Cullaz, Joaquín Rodrigo and Georges Moustaki.

National and international reach

The review extended the Academy's influence beyond Paris and France's borders. "Friends of Guitar and Music" circles were formed in Rennes, Argenteuil, Annecy and Le Mans, among others. Courses and concerts were organised in Marseille (1956), Villiers-sur-mer (1957) and Ajaccio (1961). This reach culminated in the founding of the Pallières Inter-Arts Centre in 1964.

Pallières in the Cévennes

Having acquired a 150-hectare estate in the Cévennes near Anduze, and personally restored the ruined hamlet overlooking it, Imbar launched a project to welcome musicians, students, publishers and enthusiasts from France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and the United States for summer sessions. Pallières became a meeting place between amateurs and professionals, blending workshops, informal concerts and lively exchanges.

The closing of the Plein Vent

Like many establishments in the neighbourhood, the Club saw dwindling attendance from 1968 and closed its doors permanently the following year. The Academy continued at 23, passage Verdeau (9th arrondissement) and the review Guitare et Musique reappeared until 1977. Gilbert Imbar, suffering from liver cancer, died the following year.

Gilbert Imbar's establishment stands among the pioneers of a cultural and popular movement that restored the guitar to its rightful place and nurtured, in Luc Bérimont's words, the finest flowering of the French chanson.

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This article represents the first historical account of the Club Plein Vent. Originally published on 13 June 2015 on Flamenco Magazine, it was commissioned by Pia Imbar with a view to obtaining permission to place a commemorative plaque at 42, rue Descartes.

Patrice Champarou

Sound gallery