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JACQUES
BREL |
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Three years later, Brel reared up again when alan contributed two tracks to Ne Me Quitte Pas: A Celebration Of Jacques Brel (see discography). After the album was launched at the Vortex Jazz Bar, an associated show featuring key participants elicited enthusiastic response in venues such as the Barn Theatre in Brighton, the Chester Festival of Literature, and Winchester's Tower Arts Centre, and most recently, the Pavillion in Whitby. Written
by Alan Clayson, this is a - slightly amended - press release:- 'Brel
rarely offers solutions, but states the confusion beautifully' Translated as 'If You Go Away', the late Jacques Brel's most famous chanson, 'Ne Me Quitte Pas', was a fixture in the repertoires of the disparate likes of Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Dusty Springfield, you name 'em - for, renowned as he was within French language frontiers, Brel emerged as both a figurehead and eminence grise of modern songwriting in Anglo-Saxon regions too via the burgeoning of a huge cult following that embraced fellow singing composers such as Mort Shuman, Rod McKuen, Ray Davies, Leonard Cohen and his most public mouthpiece, Scott Walker. Many may have discovered Brel through, say, Terry Jacks' million- selling
'Seasons In The Sun', a UK Number One for Westlife in December 1999, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's 'Next' or David Bowie's
takes on 'Amsterdam' and 'My Death'. The great chansonnier's influence
remained apparent more recently in
the work of Tom Robinson, Howard Devoto, Marc Almond, Julian Cope, Jarvis Cocker
- and the stellar cast on 1999's Ne Me Quitte Pas: Brel Songs By..., one
of Folk Roots' Albums Of The Year. Enthusiastic response to the album's launch at London's Vortex Jazz Bar
triggered further presentations that have been filling venues with
across-the-board audiences of both Brel devotees and those interested generally
in Gallic culture. Among
artists taking part have been (in alphabetical order):- ATTILA
THE STOCKBROKER: renowned social surrealist performance poet/musician - and 'a
huge fan for twenty years, having been introduced to Brel while perfecting my
French - or rather Bruxellois - as a member of a wild Brussels punk band, living
in a squat in Schaarbeek'; ALAN
CLAYSON; DES
DE MOOR: singer, songwriter and theatre composer, founder and host of London's
only regular cabaret club, Pirate Jenny's, and one of the few
British-based performers developing new material that's broadly in the tradition
of cabaret-theatre and chanson; J.
FORRESTER: a show as much for those who are drawn to the warmth of an intimate
performance as people who appreciate a hard-hitting lyricist, Forrester has 'the
rare gift of turning bare, raw emotion into commercial music' (Taplas); ROBB
JOHNSON: 'Britain's finest songwriter since Richard Thompson' (Venue) -
and initiator of the Ne Me Quitte Pas... collection. His Gentle Men
of 1998 was Mojo's 'Folk Album of the Month' and the Daily Telegraph's
'Folk Album of the Year; BARB
JUNGR: 'A uniquely gifted performer with a distinctive way with lyrics' Irregular records at: CLICK
Copyright Alan Clayson |
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