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| Putumayo World Music Presents: French Cafe |
French Café includes performances by renowned icons such as Serge
Gainsbourg, Georges Brassens, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin and Barbara
alongside contemporary musicians who have been adding new energy to the
classic French sound, such as Paris Combo, Sanseverino, Polo, Coralie
Clement, Enzo Enzo, Mathieu Boogaerts and Baguette Quartette.
Paris has long been an epicenter for café culture, and its countless cafes have
always been magnets for bohemians, artists, poets, revolutionaries, laborers and
musicians. Indeed, the history of French music is inextricably linked to the cafes
and music halls where popular music styles like musette and chanson were
originally performed.
In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, French music was greatly impacted by American
and British rock and roll and pop music. The sound of troubadours like Georges
Brassens and dramatic divas like Barbara was subsumed by a new and vibrant
movement that blended French attitude and lyricism with a youthful, counter-
culture energy. Brigitte Bardot, the sultry film star who was France’s most widely
recognized icon internationally in the ‘60s, was also a popular singer at home and
a leading proponent of the so- called “yé-yé” style. Serge Gainsbourg, an innovative
songwriter who used chanson as a springboard for a unique brand of avant-garde
music, became an idol and inspiration for countless musicians in France and
abroad.
In recent years, classic French styles that first became popular in the early part of
the 20th Century have been experiencing a comeback. Some of the most popular
musicians on the current French music scene have been drawing inspiration from
chanson, musette, and gypsy jazz. Icons of French music like Django Reinhardt,
Edith Piaf and Georges Brassens have been embraced by young French
musicians who once disparaged their music as being of another era.
The music on French Café unites musicians of an earlier age with contemporary
artists who draw on the sound of the past as inspiration to create a style that is
both nostalgic and progressive.
Gainsbourg, Georges Brassens, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin and Barbara
alongside contemporary musicians who have been adding new energy to the
classic French sound, such as Paris Combo, Sanseverino, Polo, Coralie
Clement, Enzo Enzo, Mathieu Boogaerts and Baguette Quartette.
Paris has long been an epicenter for café culture, and its countless cafes have
always been magnets for bohemians, artists, poets, revolutionaries, laborers and
musicians. Indeed, the history of French music is inextricably linked to the cafes
and music halls where popular music styles like musette and chanson were
originally performed.
In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, French music was greatly impacted by American
and British rock and roll and pop music. The sound of troubadours like Georges
Brassens and dramatic divas like Barbara was subsumed by a new and vibrant
movement that blended French attitude and lyricism with a youthful, counter-
culture energy. Brigitte Bardot, the sultry film star who was France’s most widely
recognized icon internationally in the ‘60s, was also a popular singer at home and
a leading proponent of the so- called “yé-yé” style. Serge Gainsbourg, an innovative
songwriter who used chanson as a springboard for a unique brand of avant-garde
music, became an idol and inspiration for countless musicians in France and
abroad.
In recent years, classic French styles that first became popular in the early part of
the 20th Century have been experiencing a comeback. Some of the most popular
musicians on the current French music scene have been drawing inspiration from
chanson, musette, and gypsy jazz. Icons of French music like Django Reinhardt,
Edith Piaf and Georges Brassens have been embraced by young French
musicians who once disparaged their music as being of another era.
The music on French Café unites musicians of an earlier age with contemporary
artists who draw on the sound of the past as inspiration to create a style that is
both nostalgic and progressive.