Sunday, April 09, 2006

 

Kind words from across the sea

Ah the great world of music, and people who love it :) I was looking at one of the people that have been leaving comments' sites, one Lady Domi, from La Belle France, and her very very kind comments about the Shanty. I will give you the BabelFish translation of what she said forthwith:

Being of morose mood and so much is not very sadistic in this rainy Sunday, I do not resist the pleasure of recommending the blog of Brad to you, which on the other side of the Atlantic prevails (and more precisely in Colorado) under the soft name of "The Impaler", and whose "Shellac Shanty" (the "Hut with the shellacs", the shellac being matter whose the 78 turns were made) conceals some completely dispensable scarcities.
Not need to be anglophone: it is enough to click on the titles of pieces... Hold, for example, this "Where Did my Snowman Go" interpreted by Patti Page and a chorus of children as you never heard some before (to be downloaded in own way of weapon defensive, very practical to make flee a guest who encrusts yourselves)...
But, I exaggerate. There are also at Brad very full with curiosities very sympathetic nerves: inter alia, two songs hawaiiennes with matched guitar - very pleasant to listen while the rain tambourine with the windows.


Merci beaucoup, my friend :) I speak and read the language somewhat, so I got the gist of her kind words, but Babelfish helped in the intricacies...

Ah, it does the heart good to be commented upon positively :) Her site is VERY good when it comes to the realm of jazz and reviews of same... if you read French, you can go directment to her Jazz Corner. If you don't read French, there's always Babelfish :)

In honor of her very kind words, I think I'll share some shellacs aux Francais that I encoded up a few years ago with you fine folks... I enjoyed these when I got them, and going back and listening to them again make me wish I was somewhere in the French countryside with a basket full of wine, cheese, breads, and my portable gramophone... watching the world go by... a spring day perfect for romance. The artist I speak of is Jean Sablon, a voice not very familiar with American listeners, but he should be (at least I think so)...

La Chansons des Rues

Melancolie

Un Poisson Dans l'Eau

Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir


All of these are from Columbia 78s recorded and mastered in France but pressed in the US. If I remember correctly, the releases came after WW2, perhaps 1946 or 47. They sound good, or they WOULD sound better than these encodes are... reason being: I encoded these YEARS ago on somewhat slower computers and inferior equipment. If I can find the discs I want to re-encode them, because (1) they are sonically very interesting, very 'warm and comfy' in the recording room, and (2) I like the material.

Oh sure, there are a BUNCH of releases by Jean Sablon, Charles Trenet, even Maurice Chevalier available on CD, but I find that getting the shellac disc, cleaning it, recording it into the computer, and then sitting back with a nice glass of wine on a sunny Sunday afternoon as they merrily play along (and not having to worry about scratching or dropping or breaking the disc), what could be better?

Lady Domi, I wish for you sunny, breezy Sunday afternoons, but if it rains, I wish for you (and all my readers) a warm fire, a sense of quietude, and many cabinets (or hard drives full) of good music to wash away the melancholy of the day.

Shellac, good companionship, good wine, and cats. Can it get any better?

Comments:
Well, waking up to the voice of Jean Sablon is very nice indeed... You probably know that he recorded a few sides with Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli in the 1930s.
Thank YOU for your kind words - I thought for a while of translating some of my write-ups into English, but I gave up the idea for some reason. Well, I may do it after all, or I may start another blog in English, dedicated mostly to French jazz musicians... when I'm through with my current work!
It's 5:30 am here - guess it's time to wish you a nice evening and a good night, full of dreams of bread, cheese, French countryside, portable gramophone and songs by... CHARLES Trenet.
A bientôt,
Lady Domi.
 
OOPS!! well I had my teeth into a decent Camembert at the time... I didn't mention Edith Piaf (although she did some VERY interesting sides) mostly becasue she got commercialized over here... I should gather some of her more jazz sides and prove some of these silly Americans wrong :)

Actually, I dream of fair damsels that like good wine/cheese/breads and portable gramophones (and that will pardon a silly American's terrible French...

Yes, I think I might have some of the Sablon/Django/Grappelli sides here, either the real thing or on CD... nice nice nice stuff.

Have a great week!

Brad
 
Do you have any records sung in English by Maurice Chevalier? I heard a couple of such songs years ago, and found his accent so cute !
Do you know Sacha Distel, who passed last year - a famous singer from the 60s on, but also a fine jazz guitarist, and the nephew of French bandleader Ray Ventura? And how about Charles Aznavour, now 82, and Henri Salvador, now 89?
Sweet dreams, then!
Lady D.
 
I do, in fact, have some Maurice Chevalier sung in English... I'll ahve to go dig them out and post them, along with some of the CHARLES Trenet sides :)

I also know of Sacha Distel and Aznavour, but I don't know if I have any 78 sides of them... same with Henri Salvador :( I'll have to look thru my shelves... I need to clear out all the JUNK from in front of the shelves... I need to do so much stuff...

I'll dream pleasently though... thank you :)
 
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