Whilst in Brussels we can't skip Belgium's greatest musical star, Jacques Brel (1929-1978), who was born in the Brussels neighbourhood of Schaerbeek. Coming from a Flemish background, his family chose to speak French. He was not academically gifted, and was bored working in his father's cardboard factory, as his creative genius wanted to burst out. He relocated to Paris in 1953 and became an international star, his many songs covered by international stars, but rarely equalled in intensity and passion. His breakthrough hit came in 1957 with Quand On N'a Que l'Amour:
Probably his most famous song, which has been covered in various languages, but never as good or as emotionally intense as the original is Ne Me Quitte Pas:
Also born in Brussels was Jazz composer and harmonica player Toots Thielemans (1922-2016). He had a long and distinguished career playing with just about any of the Jazz greats, too many to list here. He popularised the harmonica as a genuine voice in the genre. He was active into a venerable age and gave a concert on his 90th birthday, from which this clip is taken: Midnight Cowboy:
Rapper Paul van Haver, aka Stromae, cites Jacques Brel as one of his early influences, but he has a much more modern take with rap and electronic music. He was born in 1985 in the Brussels neighbourhood of Etterbeek to Rwandan Tutsi father and a Belgian mother. He has achieved quite some international success. Here's one of his hits called Papaoutai:
That's it from Brussels, next we'll be heading north to the province of Antwerp in Flanders. As usual you can follow my virtual road trip on my tripline map.
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