Liner Notes
Les Traditions de la Chanson Francaise
Whether toasting or teasing, melancholy or mournful, these songs all
share one special quality, apart, of course, from being French. That quality is
harmony. Not so much musical harmony, which is by no means lacking here,
but that special kind of harmony which is created when lyrics and melody
are working as one. In every case it is difficult to imagine the words without
the music or the music without the words. Culled from the era in which songs
were the essence of popular entertainment, the bijoux on this record perfectly
integrate the most treasured human sounds: speech and music.
There is, to be sure, a wide range of styles represented in this album.
Mistinguett who, along with Maurice Chevalier, was perhaps the biggest
musical star in pre-war France, gives a characteristically vibrant and playful
interpretation of her trademark song, Mon homme. The Corsican balladeer,
Tino Rossi, gives full expression to his exotic voice and wistful manner in
a song about the lovely Marinella. Damia's La guinguette a ferme ses volets,
bemoaning the closure of an open-air dance hall is typically zestful. Maurice
Chevalier's performance of Y'a de la joie, a melody by Charles Trenet who
also appears here, is incomparably debonair. The ethereal Trenet, the
sparkling Josephine Baker, the earthy Berthe Sylva and on down the list,
are all heard here at their best. Do not miss is the young Edith Piaf belting out
Le mauvais matelot, that is, The rotten sailor.
Composed and recorded in the 1930s and 1940s, these songs represent
a high-water mark in the history of La Chanson Francaise. Pre-television and
post-phonograph, these entertainers were superstars to whom the public
turned en masse for diversion and delight. Having matured in the vaudeville
atmosphere of revues and cafe-concerts, the chanson had moved into the
music halls, where the artists in this collection held center stage. They had
many influences and a diverse audience. Their music brought together jazz
and gypsy, waltz and swing, all infused with healthy doses of class and elan.
And while clearly distinctive, they were all united by a common spirit;
they are all singers not screamers, performers not prima donnas.
Their subjects were not grandiose--a sunny day, a nap in the hay, a man
in uniform. Nor is the music particularly complex. It is meant to be hummed,
not studied. It is the stuff, in short, of everyday life. Interpreted, however,
by Piaf, Chevalier and Trenet, these everyday matters are transformed into
something almost magical. What may have seemed ordinary takes on a
special quality. Daily reality becomes imbued with an ineffable charm. And
this charm endures long after the song has ended. It is hard not to whistle
these incomparably catchy tunes. Above all, these songs embody the art of
living, of which the French are past masters. They express the same attitude
or disposition which produces stylish subway stations and elegant cheese shops.
They introduce style into every nook and cranny.
Listening to this collection may not be quite the same as spending a
weekend in Paris, but it is at the very least an inexpensive alternative. Hearing
these songs, one is transported overseas and backward in time, as well as
uplifted in the present. Above the clouds? Perhaps not. Above the hum and
drum-- but of course.
JOSHUA BROWN
ARKADIA JAZZ