Netherlands - Utrecht

 Singer/songwriter, actor, painter and author Herman van Veen was born in Utrecht in 1945 and has had a glittering career in the Netherlands and Germany.  I have many a fond childhood memory of him as he created fun children's programmes on TV.  His songs were and still are always full of depth and straight from the heart and his live shows full of energy.  I remember seeing him live in Germany in the early 1980's, where he spent 2 hours bouncing around the stage, even climbing up the stage curtains, whilst juggling a multitude of instruments, reciting poetry and singing.  Here's a chanson-like song he performed on his 60th birthday concert called Laat Me (let me go my own way, that's the way I have always done it):

Also from Utrecht, folk band Wolverlei were formed during the 70's folk revival, but only lasted 4 years and 2 albums.  Here's a tune from their self-titled 1978 debut album called Las Las / Het Grote Bed:

Trumpeter Maité Hontelé was born in 1980 in Utrecht.  She began playing the trumpet aged 9 and was so enamoured with Salsa and Latin music, she went to live in Colombia for several years.  Do a nice summer salsa around your locked down living room with Me Da Igual from her 2015 album Te Voi A Querer:

Accordion duo Accordéon Mélancolique have been squeezing their boxes together since 1984.  The duo is based in Driebergen-Rijsenberg in the province of Utrecht, consisting of Cherie de Boer (born in Jakarta) and Jean-Pierre Guiran (born in Vlissingen).  They take most of their inspiration from French musette, but incorporate folk influences from all over the world.  The highlight of their career was when they were asked to play at the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan in Rotterdam in front of US president Bill Clinton and the Dutch crown prince Willem Alexander and the then prime minister Wim Kok in 1997.  Here is a tune from their 2012 album Gratitude called Gratitude III:

Balfolk trio Lirio are from Nieuwegein in the province of Utrecht. They consist of Wouter Kuyper (accordion and bagpipes), Sander van der Schaaf (guitar) and Gerdien Smit (violin).  Here's a tune from their 2013 album Hanterdroom called Mazurka voor een Mus:

That's it for today from the province of Utrecht, next stop the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam.  As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.

France - Paris - Part II

 As a few days ago French Chanteuse Juliette Gréco died a few days ago aged 93, we make this post about the classics of Paris.  Although Juliette was born in Montpelier, she moved to Saint-Germain-de Prés area of Paris when she was 7.   Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour wrote songs for her and she was in a relationship with Miles Davis.  Her mother had joined the resistance and the family were arrested during the German occupation.  Here's a 1967 rendition of her song Les Feuilles Mortes. RIP Juliette Gréco, 7 February 1927 - 23 September 2020:

And of course when talking about the classics, there is none more celebrated than the Sparrow of Paris, Édith Piaf (1915-1963).  She was a singer/songwriter, cabaret performer and actress.  Her songs were often autobiographical.  Despite numerous books and films about her life, much of it is unknown, but it is safe to say she lived life to the full.  She died early after a series of near-fatal car crashes and a life-long addiction to alcohol and medication.  Her last words were reportedly: "Every damn thing you do in this life, you have to pay for".  In that spirit here is Non, Je ne Regrette Riens:

Known to both the above women, Charles Aznavour is another towering figure in the Paris music scene.  Born in 1924 to Armenian parents, he performed right up to his death at the age of 94 in 2018 having written 1000's of songs for himself and others and sold almost 200 million records during his lifetime.  Here is one of his later performances of Hier Encore:

Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was not only an influential singer/songwriter, but also a film composer, poet, painter, screen writer, actor and film director, who often liked to provoke the public with controversial songs, non more so than the 1967 song Je t'aime,... moin non plus, which he wrote for Brigitte Bardot and involves some heavy breathing.  It was banned on many radio stations at the time.  Here's a song from 1962 called La Chanson de Prévert:

Accordionist Marcel Azzola (1927-2019) accompanied the likes of Stan Getz and Jacques Brel.  Here is a piece called Rue de la Chine:

Francis Lemarque (1917-2002) was born Nathan Korb, the son of Eastern European Jewish immigrants and changed his name during the German occupation and joined the French resistance.  He wrote some 1000 chansons during his career including the ardent pacifist anthem Quand un soldat:

That's it for today, but we will linger a bit longer in Paris next time.

France - Paris - Part I

 Aahh Paris!  City of love, street cafés, sitting in a wicker chair, sipping Ricard or a glass of wine, accordion music spilling out onto the streets.  We start with jazz accordionist extraordinaire Ludovic Beier and a tune called Waltz in Paris, which features on the 2010 compilation The Rough Guide to Paris Café:

He often collaborates with Gypsy jazz guitarist Angelo Debarre and this tune, I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight, features on the same album:

Singer/songwriter Marianne Feder combines traditional chanson with jazz and sometimes gypsy and Balkan influences.  This is the title song from her 2019 album L'Hiver du Poètes:

Sadly singer and accordionist Belle du Berry, front woman of the fusion chanson band Paris Combo, died last month of cancer.  The band has been blending chanson with pop, jazz, swing, gypsy and North African influences since 1995.  They attribute their wide range of influences to the cosmopolitan nature of Paris and their popularity grew beyond France with multiple tours of the USA, Europe and Australia.  Here is a jazzy live number, the title track to their to date latest album from 2017, Tako Tsubo: 

Contemporary folk musician and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Yacoub started as a founder of Brittany folk band Malicorne in the 1970's.  In 1978 he launched his solo career, still drawing on traditional material, but giving them a contemporary twist.  He only seems to release new album every few years and his last album was in 2008 entitled De La Nature des Choses.  This is a song from that album called Le Café de la Fin du Monde:

In 1986 American underground cartoonist Robert Crumb came to Paris craving real Musette, the urban dance music of Paris of the early 20th century mixing folk dancing of the Auvergne with swing, gypsy and polka.  He went on to found Les Primitifs du Futur together with guitarist Dominic Cravic.  Having a cartoonist in the band also makes for fun album covers.  Here's a live version of their song Ivresses featuring on their 2008 album Tribal Musette:

And talking about Musette, Beltuner have been playing this style since 2001.  Some of their music is featured on the bonus CD on the 2010 album The Rough Guide to Paris Café.  Here's track from that album called No Comment:

We shall linger in Paris for wee while longer, but more for another day.  As usual you can follow my virtual travels on my tripline map.