Chez Carla et Nicolas
It has to be said that in my humble opinion - in a "music is meant to be listened to by all the senses" kind of way - that as venues go, The Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex (to give the venue it's full title) sucks big time - the plush auditorium typically generates all the atmosphere of a morgue - but if, like me, you need a regular fix of "la (haute) culture francaise" then it has to be your drug of choice - Keren Ann, Émilie Simon and Jane Birkin have all played here - and this past weekend the ex-First Lady of France, Carla Bruni, was making a rare (and even rarer West Coast) US appearance...
With Nicolas Sarkozy in attendance - obviously "between jobs" as they say - the venue is crawling with Paparazzi and secret service types who blend in as seamlessly as fully-robed Klansmen at a meeting of the NAACP (or, keeping it topical, Donald Sterling in the locker room of the LA Clippers basketball team.)
With Nicolas Sarkozy in attendance - obviously "between jobs" as they say - the venue is crawling with Paparazzi and secret service types who blend in as seamlessly as fully-robed Klansmen at a meeting of the NAACP (or, keeping it topical, Donald Sterling in the locker room of the LA Clippers basketball team.)
I was afraid that any overtly enthusiastic show of appreciation might be misinterpreted as a threat.. So in the interests of self-preservation I decided this was to be a bum glued to seat gig...
With the outside courtyard heaving with half the ex-pat French émigrés of Los Angeles, the air thick with the waft of Disque Bleu (only joking - this is California. You're not allowed to smoke within half a mile of the nearest human being...) and with the venue packed to the rafters as the expectant crowd stood to applaud hubby as he took his seat (I couldn't help wonder whether the current President, François Hollande, would be given such a warm welcome...), you kind of got the impression that Carla was effectively on home soil...
And as the house lights slowly dim, so the piano of Cyril Barbessol and Taofik Farah's guitar lead into the opening bars of "Déranger les pierres"; breathless vocals float over the P.A... as the song draws to a close, Carla Bruni emerges from the shadows to rapturous applause...
Dressed in a simple outfit comprising a black blouse, black leather jeans, topped with a red tapered velvet jacket and just oozing effortless charm, Ms. Bruni proceeds over the best part of the next two hours to present a masterclass in the art of the Chanson.
The format is incredibly simple - in her totally disarming accent, Carla introduces the song, illuminates still further with a brief tale (spoiler alert - most of the songs revolve around the universal themes of love and attraction), tells a joke at the expense of the French Language ("Ta tienne" translates nonsensically as "Your yours...") and then proceeds to hold us spellbound.
The concert is billed as "Carla Bruni sings little French songs" (the title of her most recent album). In fact she draws heavily on all three of her French-language albums (Quelqu'un m'a dit", "Comme si de rien n'était" as well as the aforementioned "Little French Songs"). Despite Los Angeles magazine bigging up her 2007 English-language album "No Promises," tonight is a cent pour cent celebration of the chanson francaise - even to the degree that Carla introduces her Italian version of Charles Trenet's "Douce France" ("Dolce Francia") as a homage from a young girl recently moved from Italy and falling in love with the musical culture and history of her new home.
It's this recurring love of the Chanson that is the overwhelming theme of the concert. Indeed Carla actually prefaces "Dolce Francia" with "Little French songs";
With the outside courtyard heaving with half the ex-pat French émigrés of Los Angeles, the air thick with the waft of Disque Bleu (only joking - this is California. You're not allowed to smoke within half a mile of the nearest human being...) and with the venue packed to the rafters as the expectant crowd stood to applaud hubby as he took his seat (I couldn't help wonder whether the current President, François Hollande, would be given such a warm welcome...), you kind of got the impression that Carla was effectively on home soil...
And as the house lights slowly dim, so the piano of Cyril Barbessol and Taofik Farah's guitar lead into the opening bars of "Déranger les pierres"; breathless vocals float over the P.A... as the song draws to a close, Carla Bruni emerges from the shadows to rapturous applause...
Dressed in a simple outfit comprising a black blouse, black leather jeans, topped with a red tapered velvet jacket and just oozing effortless charm, Ms. Bruni proceeds over the best part of the next two hours to present a masterclass in the art of the Chanson.
The format is incredibly simple - in her totally disarming accent, Carla introduces the song, illuminates still further with a brief tale (spoiler alert - most of the songs revolve around the universal themes of love and attraction), tells a joke at the expense of the French Language ("Ta tienne" translates nonsensically as "Your yours...") and then proceeds to hold us spellbound.
The concert is billed as "Carla Bruni sings little French songs" (the title of her most recent album). In fact she draws heavily on all three of her French-language albums (Quelqu'un m'a dit", "Comme si de rien n'était" as well as the aforementioned "Little French Songs"). Despite Los Angeles magazine bigging up her 2007 English-language album "No Promises," tonight is a cent pour cent celebration of the chanson francaise - even to the degree that Carla introduces her Italian version of Charles Trenet's "Douce France" ("Dolce Francia") as a homage from a young girl recently moved from Italy and falling in love with the musical culture and history of her new home.
It's this recurring love of the Chanson that is the overwhelming theme of the concert. Indeed Carla actually prefaces "Dolce Francia" with "Little French songs";
Because we have de quoi frimer:
We have Brassens, Brel and Ferr
We have Boris Vian, Barbara, Gainsbourg,
Trenet, Prvert, Kosma,
Because we have de quoi choisir we have Aznavour, Reggiani,
Bcaud, Nougaro, Moustaki, Edith Piaf CIocio and Johnny
Oui, oui, oui, oui
Bien sûr c'n'est pas Duke Ellington,
C'n'est pas EIvis ni Jackson,
C'n'est pas Fitzgerald ou Armstrong,
C'est just a Iittle french song,
Mais quand Ie chagrin reste too Iong,
Moi je chante une little french song,
While the French language may not have given us Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong or Elvis (and er, Michael Jackson?), it has given the world chanteurs, the likes of Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg, Georges Brassens and the aforementioned Charles Trenet - songwriters and performers who have all placed an emphasis on lyrical content and rhythm... And it is with this homage to the Chanson that Carla dedicates, to great applause from those knowledgeable amongst us, a cover of Barbara's "Si le photo est bonne."
The set is particularly well balanced - there's a good mix of slower romantic numbers ("L'Amourouse", "J'arrive à toi" - with an absolutely haunting trumpet bridge); up-beat and amusing ("Pas une dame" - performed with a great jazz vibe, Raphael", "Chez Keith et Anita" and "Mon Raymond" - an ode to hubby Nicolas - although I still can't quite see him as a pirate); the sad ("Darling" and "Salut marin" - an ode to her half-brother who died from an AIDS-related illness).
A lot of credit for the mesmerising performance has to be given to the perfect accompaniment by Messrs. Barbessol and Farah - both of whom are extremely talented multi-instrumentalists (the latter, as Carla jokes, is very multi-talented, "on guitar, guitar and.. guitar") - as a trio, this particular CB3, set the perfect mood.
No evening with Carla Bruni would be complete without arguably her best known song, "Quelqu'un m'a dit", but the added piano introduction adds a greater poignancy, especially as before we know it, time has flown and the closing number, "La Dernière Minute", ends almost before it begins (the song as recorded on "Quelqu'un m'a dit" lasts exactly one minute - Carla thoughtfully sings it through twice - adding, that if she has one last wish, she's ask for another minute... and another...)
Me? For my last wish I was transported for the evening from LA to Paris, and La Pigalle, I'Île Saint-Louis and Les Tuileries of Carla's Little French songs...
The set is particularly well balanced - there's a good mix of slower romantic numbers ("L'Amourouse", "J'arrive à toi" - with an absolutely haunting trumpet bridge); up-beat and amusing ("Pas une dame" - performed with a great jazz vibe, Raphael", "Chez Keith et Anita" and "Mon Raymond" - an ode to hubby Nicolas - although I still can't quite see him as a pirate); the sad ("Darling" and "Salut marin" - an ode to her half-brother who died from an AIDS-related illness).
A lot of credit for the mesmerising performance has to be given to the perfect accompaniment by Messrs. Barbessol and Farah - both of whom are extremely talented multi-instrumentalists (the latter, as Carla jokes, is very multi-talented, "on guitar, guitar and.. guitar") - as a trio, this particular CB3, set the perfect mood.
No evening with Carla Bruni would be complete without arguably her best known song, "Quelqu'un m'a dit", but the added piano introduction adds a greater poignancy, especially as before we know it, time has flown and the closing number, "La Dernière Minute", ends almost before it begins (the song as recorded on "Quelqu'un m'a dit" lasts exactly one minute - Carla thoughtfully sings it through twice - adding, that if she has one last wish, she's ask for another minute... and another...)
Me? For my last wish I was transported for the evening from LA to Paris, and La Pigalle, I'Île Saint-Louis and Les Tuileries of Carla's Little French songs...
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