Georges Brassens - Live in Paris 03 Novembre 1961 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Jesse Stacken - Orange Was the Color [COMPACT DISCS] date 03/15/2011

His talent for combining poetry and vaudeville with swing music made Charles Trenet one of the great icons of 20th century French chanson before the advent of Inchyé yéInch popular music. This album brings together concert appearances recorded between 1956 and 1961, with most of them appearing here for the very first time. These are great moments of music and poetry from a wonderful entertainer (Trenet's nickname was le fou chantant, or Inchsinging clownInch) performing his great classics for audiences, accompanied by some very tasty anecdotes. The Live in Paris collection by Michel Brillié allows listeners to hear previously-unreleased recordings (made at concerts and private- or radio-sessions) by the great 20th stars in jazz, rock & roll and song. These InchliveInch takes, and the artists' rapport with their audiences, gives these performances an additional soul and sensibility in counterpoint to the rigorous demands of studio recordings. Particular care was taken when restoring the sound of these tapes in order to meet album standards while preserving the original colors of the period.

Guitarist Rodolphe Raffalli is known internationally for his performances of Georges Brassens material, and here he accompanies Renée Garlène, a singer whose precise, rare tone provides sensitive and delicate readings of the same composer's repertoire. Together they form an extraordinarily musical duo the guitar's aerial phrases seem to hold conversations with the songs themselves, and the pair are backed by a wonderful rhythm section, notably partnered by Teofilo Chantre, the great musician from Cape Verde. Here the Brassens repertoire is tinted with jazz, swing and Brazilian rhythms, providing music that softly weaves through these songs to emphasize all the power of the poetry behind the melodies of Brassens.