“For a brief period Tabou was the center of Saint-Germain’s existentialist youth movement, which married jazz culture with the intellectual life of the Latin Quarter. The extistentialist community was drawn to jazz, and in particular the new sub-genre of bebop, with its complex, lightning fast sounds. . . . These “existentialists” had their own dress code. The men wore multicolored cowboy shirts and canvas running shoes, while the women dressed in black shirts and pants. At its height, the Tabou was so poular that a membership card was required to gain entrance. Some of its more famous guests included Raymond Queneau, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus.”

—Luke Miner, from Paris Jazz: A Guide, 2005.