This is the third page of my reviews of various French chanson and musette recordings, focussing mainly on older, classic material, but also branching out to include some newer performers working in the same styles. To see the first page of these reviews, click here.
Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelly "Souvenirs - The Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France" (London/Decca, 1988)
This is a set of later recordings by the fabled Hot Club of Paris, with dazzling instrumental flights by gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelly. Most of these tracks date from 1938 and 1939, just before WWII cut the group's travels short. Also included are a dash of postwar postwar recording -- all material which is a little less fiery than their groundbreaking recordings of the early '30s. But for fans of the sweet, as opposed to the hot, this is a pretty nice set. Basically these guys were so good, it's hard to fault anything they did. British big band vocalist Beryl Davis croons on a few tunes; she's no Ella Fitzgerald, but again, the material is pretty sweet.
Django Reinhardt "Peche A La Mouche" (Verve/PolyGram, 1992)
The "gypsy jazz" guitar style pioneered by the much-revered Django Reinhardt underpins many of the best musette recordings. This is some of his later work, made in 1947 and 1953, when Reinhardt was in a state of semi-retirement. He had also become fascinated with bebop, which was the universal jazz form at the time. Paradoxically, his interest in the pyrotechnics of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker led Reinhardt to play in a style which was less dynamic and more lyrical than his classic work from the '30s, and he became a more subtly expressive player. Like Louis Armstrong in his later years, Reinhardt was undeniably a master musician, playing with a richness and soulful depth that few musicians could hope to match. Sadly, he died of a brain hemorrage not long after the last of these recordings, in 1953. This 2-CD set is pretty swell... definitely worth checking out!
Claude Robin "Les Anges Noirs: 20 Succes Inoubliades" (Marianne Melodie, 1999)
Corny postwar romantic vocals, from 1947-51. This is pretty tame and overly smooth, still kind of nice, but tilting towards the blander production style of the 1950s/60s chanson scene. Some of the later tunes on here are noteworthy for their appropriation of Latin American themes -- mainly rumbas and boleros -- as refashioned by French composer Francois Llonas. Many of these songs came from film soundtracks; the material's okay, but it didnÕt really drive me wild.
Tino Rossi "Compositions 1932-1950" (Fremeaux & Associes, 2003)
Corsican-born crooner Constantino Rossi (1907-1983) had a bright, inviting voice, that dipped into flowery operatic curliques, but also lent itself to the sparkling charm of 1930s popular song. He may be a bit corny for some, but unforgettable for others. This is a fine 2-CD set, spanning the first two decades of his career, including sons taken from his numerous film appearances, and including glowing but useful liner notes in English and French. Other Tino Rossi collections may be more compact and more fun to listen to, but this one is fairly authoritative, and gives a good sense of Rossi's stylistic range.
Tino Rossi "Ecoutez Les Mandolines" (Naxos, 2002)
More of Rossi's delightfully schmaltzy, stagey romantic singing, with touches of opera, the tango and Latin American boleros mixed in with the classic chanson sound. This is another superior, and quite affordable, collection from Naxos... Recommended!
Jean Sablon "J'Attendrai" (ASV Living Era, 1995)
Of the great Depression-era French singers, Jean Sablon may be my favorite. He had a natural, easygoing grace, and a jazz-informed Tin Pan Alley feel that makes him sound like sort of a Gallic Bing Crosby. These two dozen tracks -- all recorded in the 1930s -- are Sablon at his peak, and the several tracks which also feature the great gypsy jazz guitarist Django Rinehardt are just icing on the cake. Lovely, warm-hearted, eminently enjoyable music.
Jean Sablon "World Famous Crooner: 1931-1950" (Fremeaux & Associes, 2003)
The title of this 2-CD collection is kind of a pun: this is a collection of recordings Sablon made abroad, while in England, Argentina and the U.S. Unfortunately, it's also not the best stuff he'd ever recorded -- he's working with unfamiliar bandleaders, and musicians who also were clearly not familiar with him or his musical strengths. It's an interesting historical curio, but the music doesn't swing as his best records do.
Jean Sablon "C'est Si Bon" (Naxos, 2003)
Another glorious collection of sweet, sweet songs from Jean Sablon's golden years...This disc easily rivals the ASV album listed above; it's well-programmed and packed full of delicious, doleful, delightfully corny romantic songs (and a few comedic numbers as well...) And oh, that voice! Oooh-la-la! Sablon was surely the greatest crooner in all of France. Highly recommended.
Henri Salvador "Volume 1: Maladie D'Amour: 1942-1948" (Fremeaux & Associes, 2000)
Cool old recordings from a remarkably multi-talented guitarist and vocalist who was a disciple of Django Reinhardt's, back in the WWII era. Following the war, Salvador swiftly went his own way, carving out a career that found him recording big band swing, Brazilian-style samba and other exotica, latin jazz, takeoffs on American rock, romantic ballads and humorous ditties. Some of the material is super-schmaltzy, in a Carmen Dragon kinda way, although other tunes swing mightily, and even have a Slim Gaillard-ish hepcat edge. This 2-CD set is the second in a series that gathers dozens of hard-to-find recordings. Salvador appears as a featured artist in various orchestras and small combos led by Ray Ventura, and as a bandleader himself. It's great stuff, and by Disc Two, which picks up in 1947, he's really found his groove. Hepcat big band material not unlike Louis Prima or Cab Calloway (who gets a Gallic shout-out in the soundtrack to the film, Mademoiselle S'Amuse...) -- boisterous yet classy, and well worth checking out!
Henri Salvador "Volume 2: Le Loup, La Biche Et Le Chevalier: 1946-1950" (Fremeaux & Associes, 2001)
More great oldies by this unique postwar showman. This second 2-CD set features Salvador working again with bandleader Ray Ventura, as well as Katherine Dunham, Emil Stern and Jo Boyer. C'est magnifique!
Henri Salvador "Room With A View (Chambre Avec Vue)" (Blue Note, 2001)
A remarkably vigorous album for a fellow who's been recording since the 1940s... This disc sticks to jazz ballads and is very slick, and often quite goopy... but it's also got some lovely, lyrical moments. Even this late in the game, Salvador is certainly worth checking out.
Berthe Sylva "Les Roses Blanches" (EPM, 1998)
Billed as the greatest of the Depression-era chanteuses, Sylva certainly had a strong, authoritative air about her -- not strident or overstated, simply very clear and very perfect. She sounds rather reserved in comparison to Edith Piaf, but these 1930s Odeon recordings are still very moving and will captivate your attention. The arrangements are also quite striking -- compact, tightly crafted, and the apex, perhaps, of monophonic recording. Nothing is lost, cramped or muddled, and the light orchestrations by bandleaders Andre Valsien and Andre Cadou are, well, simply perfect for every tune. Sylva apparently lived a fast life, and died penniless and young in 1941. A pity, but these pre-war performances are quite a legacy.
Tohama "Etoiles De La Chanson" (Marianne Melodie, 1997)
One of many chanson singers who specialized in latin-flavored material, Nadia Altman (aka Tohama) recorded a fair number of rumba songs, along with more standard, melanchoic romantic fare... Piaf didn't have much to worry about as far as competition from this gal, but these recordings are still pretty nice. This collection spans her career from 1937-46, with an emphasis on the postwar material that made her a star, with arrangements by Raymond Legrande, Emile Deltour and others.
Jean Tranchant "D'Un Jean Tranchant... L'Autre 1934-1942" (EPM Musique, 1994)
Songwriter Tranchant was known as a linguistic maze-maker, his lyrics dense enough to foil even the most studious of French listeners, but also a playful minefield of metaphor, puns and literary allusions. Fortunately, he also had superior musical backing, notably from gypsy jazz pioneers such as Django Rinehardt, Stephane Grappelli, Andre Ekyan, and their various family members and cohorts. Although he was one of the first popular singers to recognize the exciting possibilities of this new acoustic swing style, Tranchant did not join the later 1940s "zazou" movement, which also took its inspiration from jazz. Indeed, even with the cream of the gypsy swing scene backing him up, Tranchant's early work isn't as jazzy as you might imagine. It is, however, lovely stuff. While chanson stars such as Charles Trenet and Jean Sablon are far better remembered, Tranchant's work has a similar resonance, and if you are able to track down this 2-CD set (or any other collection of his work), it's definitely worth picking up.
Charles Trenet "Boum! His Earliest Recordings 1937-1943" (ASV Living Era, 1995)
As one of the French stars with the longest-lived careers, Charles Trenet had plenty of opportunity to re-record older material and continue along making records well into the 1950s and '60s, when much of the vigor was gone from the French chanson scene. These early tracks, however, capture him at his most robust and playful. Fun, sometimes zippy, sometimes sappy material with a touch of the "sweet" dance band sound. Features his buoyant theme song, "Boum!" and plenty of other rollicking, fun, upbeat tunes. Recommended!
Charles Trenet "Y'a D'la Joie" (Arkadia, 1997)
This well-programmed disc collects Trenet's best recordings from 1937-39, including, of course, "Boum!" and numerous other upbeat songs of equal caliber. There's big band-influenced swing, as well as a smattering of rumba and a few briskly paced romantic tunes. This is a very nice set, with eighteen songs that highlight young Trenet at his best. Highly recommended.
Charles Trenet "Swing Troubadour" (Arkadia, 2002)
A swell set of wartime recordings, from 1938-44, many of which are, once again, deeply tinged with American-style swing. Another tasty Trenet offering, and as with the other Arkadia collection listed above, perhaps a bit more compact and focused than other retrospectives... The downside, though, is the sparseness of the liner notes -- they say when the songs were recorded, and coo a few nice words about Trenet and his career, but other than that, they aren't terribly informative. Still, this is a great record to listen to, definitely recommended!
Charles Trenet "Cocktail Hour" (Allegro, 2000)
As with the other Allegro collections, this is an affordable, idiosyncratic and rather enjoyable. Two CDs for the price of one, with the main drawback being the complete lack of liner notes. It's barebones packaging, but spiffy musique. I'm not sure when these recordings were made -- some sound pretty old, others more recent. (NOTE: for more info about Charles Trenet, check out his epitaph in the Slipcue Obituary Section)
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v.1: 1933-1936 - Charles Et Johnny" (Fremeaux & Associes)
The French label Fremeaux may have the final word on the Trenet canon, with this authoritative chronological series of double-disc collections, tracing Trenet's career, step by step, year by year, song by song. This first volume is the one I'm currently looking for: his earliest recordings, made with song-and-dance partner Johnny Hess, who shared Trenet's fascination with American-style swing and jazz. I've heard a few Charles & Johnny songs on other collections, but I would love to hear them all! (Note: a separate collection of Johnny Hess's solo work is also reviewed in this section, under the letter "H.")
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v.2: 1934-1938 - Y'a D'la Joie" (Fremeaux & Associes)
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v.3: 1937-1941 - Boum" (Fremeaux & Associes)
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v.4: 1943-1947 - Que Reste" (Fremeaux & Associes)
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v.5: 1943-1947 - La Mer" (Fremeaux & Associes, 1998)
Wartime conditions meant that Trenet, like many others, went from project to project with less of a chance to develop a coherent artistic path (indeed, working at all under the Nazi rule was considered quite controversial...) The first disc of this 2-CD set features a hodgepodge of recordings, including numerous Trenet songs being covered by other artists (Lucienne Boyer, etc.) as well as performances culled from films (the soundtrack to 1943's Adieu... Leonard) and even an example of a Trenet song being re-recorded with altered lyrics, as part of the Allied radio propaganda campaigns (Pierre Dac's "La Compainte Des Nazis," which was a parody of "La Romance De Paris"). Trenet was criticized for touring and giving concerts during the Occupation, but his popularity was such that he transcended these complaints, and was not seen as a collaborator; regardless, in 1945 he was able to record "Liberte," ringing in the freedom from German rule, and on the second disc of this volume, his postwar recordings show greater stability and liveliness, as he recorded extensively with bandleader Albert Lasry. Another nice offering from the Fremeaux label!
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v.6: L'Ame Des Poetes" (Fremeaux & Associes)
Enrique Ugarte "Cafe Musette" (Arc Music, 2003)
A no-nonsense set of solo accordion renditions of musette melodies old and new (including several new tunes written by Ugarte himself...) A fine, solid album by a prolific, tradition-based revivalist.
Georges Ulmer "Pigalle" (EPM, 2003)
Born in Denmark, raised in Spain, vocalist Georges Ulmer made a splash in the postwar pop scene, singing uptempo "American"-style swing, modeled after the jazzy material Charles Aznavour was singing around the same time. This is fun material from 1945-47, uniformly enjoyable and upbeat. Ulmer's unusual accent made him hard to place, an attribute he used to his advantage while singing "cowboy" music and jazz; even all these years later, his voice is still cheerful and inviting... And the orchestras (of Jacques Helian, Marius Coste, Joe Boyer and others) were also first-rate. Recommended!
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