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, melancholic 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 Legrand, Emile Deltour and others. (Note: this earlier collection has only one song that overlaps with the two albums below, "Dans La Balancoire," otherwise, it's all unique material.)
Tohama "Volume 1: Gigi" (Marianne Melodie, 2006)
Tohama "Volume 2: La Petite Marie" (Marianne Melodie, 2006)
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.
Irene de Trebert "Mademoiselle Swing: 1938-1946" (Fremeaux & Associes, 1997)
A 2-CD set of early-1940's material by Irene de Trebert, a jazz-oriented swing singer and actress who favored uptempo material, perhaps closer in temperament and talent to Marion Hutton than to Ella Fitzgerald, but fun either way. She was married to bandleader Raymond Legrand, who provides backing on most of these three dozen tunes; the rest of the tracks were performed alongside the Marius Coste band. The arrangements and styles vary widely, depending on circumstance... Many tracks are taken from films, while others were regular studio sessions... Notable among the musicians is swing violinist Michel Warlop, a devotee of the Stephane Grappelli sound, and indeed some of the best tracks on here have a small-ensemble "hot club" feel. Also noteworthy is the relative lack of Latin- and exotic-themed novelty numbers. I wouldn't say for the most part that this is electrifying material but it is quite sweet, and quite enjoyable. First-rate nostalgia, a fine compliment to any exploration of any British or American swing and sweet-band music of the same era. (Note: much of this music is duplicated on a 2-CD collection of Raymond Legrand's work, but each album has an equal amount of material that is not included on the other...)
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 Records, 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 Records, 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 note 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 Records, 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 & Johnny Hess "Charles Et Johnny: 1933-1936" (Vanny, 1990)
An early reissue of the early duets of Charles Trenet and Johnny Hess. I've seen this album, but haven't heard it: the same material is covered in the more extensive Charles Trenet - Integrale collection, reviewed below.
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v.1: 1933-1936 - Charles Et Johnny" (Fremeaux & Associes, 1996)
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 gathers all of Trenet's collaborations with pianist-composer Johnny Hess, his first musical partner, whom Trenet met when they were both teens. Hess and Trenet shared a love for American-style swing, and when they started performing together, the Parisian jazz scene was coming into full bloom. The duet of Charles et Johnny swept through the city's cabaret circuit, and made Trenet a star. These early recordings burst with exuberance and good nature -- the boys were clearly having a blast. Included are all thirty-six songs released by the Pathe label, along with one alternate version, and two songs recorded with Fred Adison's big band, just before the duo dissolved its partnership in the Fall of '36. Although these tracks are buoyant and joyful, I would caution that they really need to sampled sparingly, taken in small portions, like fine French cuisine. Listened to end-to-end, it might be a bit much. It's great stuff, though -- I love vintage French swing songs! (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: 1939-1951 - L'Ame Des Poetes" (Fremeaux & Associes)
Charles Trenet "Integrale, v. 7: 1947-1951 - Formidable!" (Fremeaux & Associes)
Charles Trenet "Le Fou Chantant: 1937-1950" (Fremeaux & Associes, 2003)
Le Trio Do-Re-Mi "Chante..." (Polydor, 1953) (LP)
A lively, jaunty pop vocals trio made up of Annie Rouvre, Hubert Giraud and Roger Lucchesi, working roughly along the same lines as Lambert, Hendricks & Ross -- two guys, one gal -- though in this case with a distinct tilt towards latin-dance inspired novelty material. This eight-song, ten-inch album includes tunes such as "Voyage A Cuba," "Le Rossignol Cubain" and "Coco D'Acapulco," with sprightly, compact acoustic arrangements and pretty authentic-sounding rhythmic backing. Depending on how carefree or how crabby you were feeling at any given time, you could reasonably find this either giddy or gimmicky, joyful or cloying. Overall, I'd place this is the above-average category for exoticized French chanson. Fun stuff, if you ask me.
Le Trio Do-Re-Mi "Copains, Copains, Amis, Amis" (Marianne Melodie, 2009)
Three times as many tunes as the original 'Fifties album above, with all those songs repeated here, and a whole lot more stuff, including a big chunk of material that breaks out of the Latin music routine. Pretty groovy, if you ask me!
Trio Hill Billy's "Harmonica Western" (Ducretet Thomson, 1955) (10" LP)
Darn it. I had high hopes, coming across these guys, that they would make an exciting new addition to my European country music guide but, alas, the French were uniquely resistant to American-style country, even in a kitchily-filtered, funhouse-mirror cabaret version, and these "hill billys" were simply a group of toot-tootling harmonica instrumentalists, with nary a mandolin or steel guitar in sight. Oh, sure, the trio -- Denise Lanet, Roger Lanet and Georges Naudin covered a few readily-recognizable country hits, tunes like "Home On The Range" or "Lay That Pistol Down, Babe," but they just as readily would veer into polka territory, apparently with little concern over the stylistic differences. Of modest interest, but I would have loved discovering a Gallic Gene Autry a whole lot more.
Trio Hill Billy's "Crazy Horse Saloon" (Ducretet Thomson, 1955) (10" LP)
Trio Hill-Billy's "Les Cow-Boys De L'Harmonica" (Marianne Melodie)
A mystery, release, alas. Over a decade ago, I caught sight of this CD-era release from the reliable and encyclopedic Marianne Melodie label, which presumably gathers all the material from the old vinyl-era albums above... But now, well into the 21st Century, it has become invisible to me from my distant perch in the ever-benighted United States of America. It exists. I know it exists... But I can no longer prove that it does.
Les Trois Menestrels "La Ballade Des Baladins" (Marianne Melodie)
Another pop-vocals trio -- Raymond De Rycker, Jean-Louis Fenoglio, and Maria Sandrini -- Les Trois Menestrels recorded extensively between 1956-1969, releasing quite a few albums and innumerable singles and EPs. Digital-era compilations of their work are hard to come by, at least here in the States. This CD collection was on my radar around 2010, but seems to have receded into the mists since then. The world appears to be getting smaller and smaller, day by day. Thar be dragons, and all that.
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