"french" sounding jazz tunes
i'm playing a "la vien rose" society party tomorrow with a trio and i was wondering if you guys had any suggestions for french sounding jazz tunes?
stuff like django and whatnot. any ideas would be appreciated!
thanks-
scot
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There are 14 comments, leave a comment.
you could always sing the french version of "autumn leaves" ("les feuilles mortes")
c'est une chanson qui nous rassemble
moi qui t'aimais, toi qui m'aimais
nous etions si heureux ensemble
moi qui t'aimais, toi qui m'aimais
et la vie separe ce qui s'aiment
tout doucement. san faire du bruit
et la mer s'efface sur le sable
les pas des aimants desunis
django's "minor swing" is fun and easy
| am | am | dm | dm |
| e7 | e7 | am | e7 |
on the subject of django, please go to my latest post in the thread "improv question" for details on a truly incredible book on the django style!
bechet's "petite fleur" is in the same league, a nice favorite for older folks.
definitely legrand: "windmills of your heart" is probably the most famous.
french folks also like tango, stuff like piazolla.
django's "nuage" is good.
autumn leaves, obviously. look for more yves montand's tunes.
tunes in grappelli's repertoire, like how high's the moon.
is the audience actually french? there's a famous french singer called nougaro who did a lot of jazz tunes. it popularized some standards. for example:
- "the cat" (le chat)
- st thomas (a tes seins (literally, "to your breast")
- take five, 3 to get ready ("le jazz et la java")
- go down moses
- cantaloupe island
...
and some french originals like maurice vander's "le coq et la pendule", beautiful tune, or toulouse, nougaro's biggest hit.
vander's was nougaro's lifetime accompanist. one of the best pianists in my book.
another jazzy dude we have is michel jonasz, he had a lot of jazzy hits. stuff like "la boite de jazz" or "lucille"
and then you can throw in anything from aznavour, not always jazzy, but sometimes. most beautiful tune ever: "la boheme".
finally, you could try some of henry salvador's tunes. some nice bossa's, lots of fun tunes.
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 08/23/2008, 20:35
how did it go? were you "french" enough for em?
i played many a "theme party" in my day. it always interested me that folks would hire a group that plays a certain genre or style, but then ask them to play all different stuff to fit a "theme". it usually happened that we'd play a couple of theme-ish tunes, then resume with the usual shtick
Scot is available for skype jazz piano lessons (and google hangouts, phone call, etc...)
Use the contact link at the top of the page.
by Scot Ranney on 08/29/2008, 16:11
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