February 22, 2016
C’est la Vie Listening Post 35. Throughout his 40-year career, Francis Cabrel—the greatest French singer-songwriter of his generation—has woven strands of folk, blues, jazz, rock and pop into iconic songs of relationships, protest and social commentary. On his 13th...
January 4, 2016
Alchemy on the Seine Listening Post 28. When a singer is gutsy enough to do an album of classic Paris chansons—even someone like Zaz (Isabelle Geffroy), with two hit records behind her—you can bet the army of Paris-lovers will be ready to pass judgment. Verdict:...
November 30, 2015
Beauty from Misery Listening Post 23. Barbara was one of “Les 3 B,” a triumvirate of singer-songwriters—including Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel—who defended French chanson from the onslaught of American and British pop/rock in the Sixties. Her melancholy songs of...
August 12, 2015
Platonic Challenge Listening Post 7. Can a man and a woman be Just Friends? The question has launched countless novels, films and songs—some that make us laugh or cry and others that induce yawns. Bastien Lanza, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter, has turned this...
June 17, 2015
Thank You Notes Listening Post 1. One of the great French-language singers of the twenty-first century, Québec-born Isabelle Boulay devotes her latest album to the work of her role model—and one of the masters of chanson française—of the twentieth. Like her...
