the tribute to Jacques Brel de Lavilliers, Faithfull, Dutronc, Zaz…

Jacques Brel. A legendary name in the history of French song. Even if like Adamo, Arno, Lio, Axelle Red, or in other areas Hergé, Peyo, François Damiens, Benoît Poelvoorde…he was Belgian. An artist who lived his art passionately, without cheating, to the point of abandoning the stage when he felt that he no longer vibrated as much as when he started. A jack of all trades who has tried his hand with happiness and success in acting, a little less in directing. His roles in “L’Emmerdeur”, “L’Aventure c’est l’aventure” or “Les Risques du Profession” still remain today almost as famous as his magnificent “Ne me leave pas”, “Le flat pays “, “Amsterdam”, “When we only have love”, and “These people”, which came out in 1966.

Brel innovated not only as an author, with themes previously addressed in literature, but he was also a phenomenal performer, the actor of his songs. For me, he is a mixture of Bob Dylan and Stephen Sondheim, a theatrical and dramatic personality, poetic and profound

Larry Klein, director of the tribute albumDifficult to tackle such a reference. But several singers have risked it in the record produced by Larry Klein, which is released by Decca this April 5. It bears this same essential title from the repertoire of the great Jacques, with a cover which inevitably recalls the original.

The song “Vesoul” and its famous “chauffe, Marcel” (addressed to the accordionist Marcel Azzola, who died at the beginning of the year) is covered here by Thomas Dutronc, whose father is cited in the lyrics. Hence a tasty interpretation during the show “Le grand Studio RTL” recorded on March 29, halfway between Jacques Dutronc and Gainsbourg, and which gave rise to several winks: “chauffe Marc”, ” I hate gypsy jazz”, and “you wanted to see Jean-Jean”.

However, this jazzy and cozy atmosphere was reserved for live, the studio version moving much further from the original with its soul-blues organ which replaces the accordion.
For his part, Gauvain Sers tackled another classic: “La valse à mille temps”. He also performed it in this same show. The piano is swirling, the guitar sober, but the intensity is there.

I have always been familiar with Brel. Above all, I did not seek to reproduce classics rooted in French culture but to offer new versions, different and current, while remaining as close to the heart as possible.

Larry Klein

The record was produced by renowned producer and four-time Grammy Award winner Larry Klein. The orchestrations are finely crafted and bring a new color to these pieces heard a thousand times. One of the characteristics of the singer Jacques Brel was to very often lose himself in flamboyant lyricism. Impossible to compete. Also, several of the covers opted for assumed sobriety with modernized but discreet instrumentations. Carla Bruni chose “Quand on a que l’amour”, another monument, but prefers to remain in restraint, rather than the brilliance that Brel demonstrated.

Same impression for “Amsterdam”. The song, never recorded in the studio by Brel, had already been translated into English, and performed by David Bowie on the BBC in 1970. The female icon of British pop, Marianne Faithfull, took up this translation, with less emphasis than Brel and Bowie, but the orchestration accentuates the dramatic register.

When songs are so inscribed in the imagination, we know all the details: I wanted to invite you to rediscover their power and that they still amaze

Larry Klein

We can bet that the multi-generational casting and not only French-speaking will attract younger generations to the music of this immense artist that was Jacques Brel.

The tracklist

01. Thomas Dutronc – Vesoul
02. Gauvain Sers – The thousand-beat waltz
03. Marianne Faithfull – Port of Amsterdam
04. Slimane – Don’t leave me
05. Bernard Lavilliers – Jacky’s song
06. Melody Gardot – The song of old lovers
07. Oxmo Puccino – We need to look
08. Liv Del Estal – The drunkard
09. Carla Bruni – When we only have love
10. Michel Jonasz – The old people
11. Zaz – Brussels
12. Madeleine Peyroux – See a friend cry
13. Claudio Capéo – These people

“Brel, These people” performed by Carla Bruni, Thomas Dutronc, Marianne Faithfull, Claudio Capéo, Bernard Lavilliers, Oxmo Puccino, Slimane, Melody Gardot, Zaz, Gauvain Sers, Michel Jonasz, Madeleine Peyroux, Liv Del Estal. DECCA / Universal – Released April 5