French music seen from abroad (February 2009)

Golden oldies & bright young hopes

Paris 

05/02/2009 - 

2009 kicked off with veteran French chanson star Charles Aznavour winning yet more honours at Midem. Meanwhile, as the record industry recession deepens, France's bright young music hopes have been out on the road abroad.

The French are fond of commemorating things, be it victories, defeats, revolutions or their favourite national idols. Charles Aznavour certainly falls into that last category. The singer, whom British newspaper The Times (30/01/09) recently dubbed "the French Frank Sinatra", has already garnered a host of prestigious awards including the Légion d'Honneur. And the gongs just keep on rolling in! At this year's edition of Midem, the international music market held in Cannes (18-22 January 2009), "Aznavour was presented with a lifetime achievement's award" (Los Tiempos, Bolivia, 19/1). And rightly so, as the American music bible Billboard (16/1) reminds us, Aznavour "has composed over 800 songs and sold over 100 million records to date."

What's more, the sprightly 84-year-old shows no sign of stopping any time soon. Aznavour is currently back in the spotlight with Duos, a double album featuring a series of multi-lingual duets. Duos, which has been released worldwide, has already won rave reviews in the international press. A journalist writing in Venezuela's El National (19/1) was suitably impressed by "Volume I featuring thirteen songs in French" and "Volume II featuring fifteen songs in English, German, Spanish and Italian, recorded with top international music stars" (ranging from Julio Iglesias and Nana Mouskouri to Johnny Hallyday, Sting and Elton John). Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Aznavour's album also includes three virtual posthumous duets with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Edith Piaf. The late great chanson diva, who died in 1963 (and who took young Aznavour under her wing in his early years as a personal secretary and songwriter) was recently back in the news again in Greece. Reuters news agency (16/1) reported that "a passionate love letter written by the French singer Edith Piaf to a Greek actor over fifty years ago" fetched a considerable sum at auction.

Meanwhile, the French music scene moves on with an army of new talent quietly plugging away at home and abroad. Interestingly enough, a number of artists from France's new generation are due to embark upon international tours in 2009. Allheadlinenews.com reports that "French singer and songwriter Sébastien Tellier has announced another North American tour… The Parisian will kick off his two-week tour with an April 1 gig at New York's Le Poisson Rouge" - no April fool gags intended! Tellier apparently has his finger in plenty of musical pies right now. Allheadlinenews.com also mentions that "he is reportedly writing songs for a new album by the veteran Greek pop singer Demis Roussos."

Before Tellier heads off to work his electro magic in the States, Camille has been busy flying the flag for French music Down Under. The perennially popular French singer, who has just played six dates in major cities across Australia, is not a complete unknown in the Land of Kylie and Nicole. "Camille launched into Aussie consciousness in 2006 with the single 'Ta douleur' taken from her 2005 album 'Le fil'," according to Same  (8/01). Camille's single received massive airplay on Triple J, one of the most listened-to private radio stations in the country. In fact, Triple J listeners voted Ta Douleur number twenty-six in the Hottest 100 that year, a notable achievement for a foreign-language song.

Camille's compatriot La Grande Sophie has been concentrating her efforts on French-speaking Europe. The indie "pop-rockeuse" is due to hit the road again with a French tour that kicks off on 7 February and includes a gig at Le Casino de Paris on 13 May 2009. Sophie's new album, Des vagues et des ruisseaux (released on Universal), finds the singer - up until now best known as a feisty rock chick live on stage - exploring a mellower side to her personality. Switzerland's Le Temps (31/01) reports that "the French singer has entered a new phase of her career thanks to Edith Fambuena (formerly of Les Valentins) who has enveloped her music in the most delicate arrangements… Bitter-sweet folk-pop, luminous melodies, warm acoustics and La Grande Sophie exploring the full range of her vocal possibilities make this fifth album… a big surprise."

We end this month's round-up with a musical riddle. "I was born in the French town of Tarbes, but now live in Tucson, Arizona, and I have just released my first album in the U.S. entirely recorded in French." Any guesses as to the singer behind this cross-cultural mix?

Marianne Dissard, whose album L'Entredeux is available as an import in France, is a 39-year-old singer. Her music, according to America's Democrat Chronicle (15/1) "fuses the romance of Paris with the stark beauty of the desert." Marianne, who has worked with the exotic Tucson band Calexico, left France when she was sixteen and is now happy living life in the slow lane "far from the frantic megalopolis." After performing locally in Tucson in February, Ms. Dissard is due to head off on a tour of Germany and then play a series of concerts in France. Meanwhile, back in the States, many listeners are still trying to grasp the gist of Marianne's French crooning. The Democrat Chronicle's reviewer notes that "thankfully, the booklet accompanying Marianne Dissard's album, L'Entredeux, which she sings entirely in French, does include English translations!" But you don't need to understand a word to be transported straight to "the romantic cafés of the Parisian pop chanteuse's native France."

Gilles  Rio

Translation : Julie  Street