Lys Gauty..Chanteuse Extraordinaire!

Lys Gauty (Alice Gautier) is perhaps the greatest of all the chanteuses. While some would prefer the more overt emoting of Piaf, the classically trained Gauty was the most vocally accomplished of all. She is by far the most subtle of her number, inflecting the text wonderfully according to the mood of each song and able to conjure up an astonishing range of vocal colours, from robust mezzo for "men's" songs to light soprano for more feminine numbers. In her hands, each song becomes a miniature play, and it's easy to see why she was one of Kurt Weill's favourite interpreters of his songs.

This album covers a good selection of her songs and will leave you wanting for more. A wonderful memento of an extraordinary artiste.

                                 

Django Reinhardt...40 Breathtaking Recordings

Jean "Django" Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer. He was born in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, into a family of Manouche Romani descent. Reinhardt's nickname "Django", in the Romani language, means "I awake." Reinhardt spent most of his youth in Romani (Gypsy) encampments close to Paris, playing banjo, guitar and violin from an early age.

Reinhardt is often regarded as one of the greatest guitar players of all time and is the first important European jazz musician who made major contributions to the development of the idiom. Using only the index and middle fingers of his left hand on his solos (his third and fourth fingers were paralyzed after an injury in a fire), Reinhardt invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique (sometimes called 'hot' jazz guitar) that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, he co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, described by critic Thom Jurek as "one of the most original bands in the history of recorded jazz."Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become jazz standards, including "Minor Swing", "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", and "Nuages".

Full Wikipedia biography here..

This collection contains the best of his immortal recordings with Stephane Grappelli together with other highlights illustrating his instrumental prowess.

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Edith Piaf .... Die großen Chansons

The legend of Edith Piaf lives on and there has been much said and written about her. The voice, the songs, the performances are all unforgettable and these are what have made her eternal.

This collection brings together 18 of her finest moments. Enjoy.....

EdPfDGC

Cafe De Paris...25 Grands Succes Francais

25 Vintage classics of the 1930s and 1940s from France featuring the cream of French artists including Charles Trenet, Edith Piaf, Jean Sablon, Tino Rossi, Josephine Baker and Maurice Chevalier....tres magnifique!!

CDEP25GSF