JazzWax

Henri Salvador, Part 1

Henri Salvador was a French singer, musician and dancer whose talents were so exceptional and profound, we don't really have anyone of comparable status in the U.S. Salvador played guitar and trumpet, he sang beautifully and he was a star in virtually every music genre, including jazz, pop, chanson, cabaret, rock 'n' roll and bossa nova. He also appeared regularly on TV singing and dancing.

There was something exclusively French about Salvador, like Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier and Yves Montand. Whenever I hear Salvador's voice, I think immediately of Paris. In fact, when I was in Montreal several years ago, the French restaurant where I was eating lunch was playing him on its sound system. I had no idea who it was, not because I didn't know Salvador but because he was so eclectic and wide-ranging, I was unfamiliar with the song playing. My family is used to me making them uncomfortable as I grill waiters for the name of artists on their iTunes system.

Salvador wasn't a dabbler but a full-fledged entertainer and recording artist who made everything look easy. Born in French Guiana in 1917, Salvador emigrated to Paris in the 1930s and was spotted by Django Reinhardt, who employed him as his accompanist. During World War II, Salvador was stuck on the French Riviera and joined French bandleader Ray Ventura just as he fled Vichy France for South America. Ventura was Jewish.

After the war, Salvador returned to Paris with Ventura and began his recording career. He flourished in the 1950s with the arrival of the 10-inch LP. The rise of television also found Salvador on TV variety shows, and he twice appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York. In the 1950s, he was among the first to write and record rock 'n' roll songs in France, partnering with songwriter with Boris Vian. They collaborated on more tan 400 songs in a staggering range of styles, from blues to beguines.

Admittedly, Salvador recorded and performed a sizable amount of junk, including dreadful novelty songs and material that either is appreciated only by the French or wilted quickly after being released. His jazz-pop recordings were executed at a much higher taste level and remain stunningly beautiful today. This compartmentalization makes one wonder who the real Salvador was—the elegant, sensual balladeer or the sappy, comic music-hall singer.

Today, I'm featuring 10 of my favorite Salvador jazz-pop recordings. Henri Salvador died in 2008 at age 90.

Here's Salvador with Ray Ventura singing Hey Ba-Ba Re-Bop in 1946..

Here's Salvador singing and playing guitar on A Saint-Germain des Près in 1955...

Here's Salvador singing Salvador Plays the Blues in 1956...

Here's Salvador scatting and playing guitar on Stompin' at the Savoy in 1956...

Here's Salvador in 1957 singing Maman La Plus Belle Du Monde...

Here's Salvador singing and playing guitar on Il n'y a Plus D'Amands in 1957

Here's Salvador in 1961...

Here's Salvador singing Dans Mon Ile in 1963. Salvador originally recorded it in 1958. Antonio Carlos Jobim has said the song was major influence on him to slow down the samba and create the bossa nova...

Here's Salvador singing L'Inspration in 1963...

Here's Salvador singing Count Basie, Neal Hefti's Lil' Darlin' set to Salvador's French lyrics in 1963...

Bonus: Here's the original Dans Mon Ile in 1958...

Kim, Jimmy and Arthur

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actress Kim Cattrall for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Kim is best known for playing Samantha Jones on TV's Sex and the City series. but she has had a long acting professional career that began in 1975. She was born in Liverpool, moved with her family to Vancouver (British Columbia), studied in Liverpool at age 12, and moved to New York at 16 to study acting. Her first movie was Rosebud (1975), directed by Otto Preminger. Former New York City mayor John Lindsay appeared in the film, too. He helped Kim get her green card. Currently, she stars in TV's Filthy Rich (Fox). [Photo above of Kim Cattrall from YouTube]  

Here's Kim on Who Do You Think You Are?...

SiriusXM. On Tuesday, I'll join co-hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski on Feedback to talk about my recent "Anatomy of a Song" column on Dexys Midnight Runners' Come On Eileen. Tune in at noon (EDT), on channel 106.

Tony Fruscella. Back in 2018, I posted about trumpeter Tony Fruscella and bassist Red Mitchell, and their rendition of I'll Be Seeing You. Photographer Gilles D'Elia sent along the following (be sure to click on the link and view his work, it's extraordinary):

Hi Marc. Thanks to your website, that I read very often, I've discovered the Red Mitchell version of Tony Fruscella's solo on "I'll Be Seeing You." I can't help it: I had to write and record an adaptation in French, my native language. Even if I'm not a musician nor a singer, I've done it just for pleasure, and I hope maybe you will like to listen to it. Here it is. Please be indulgent...

David Thompson. This weekend, Dave plays Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen's Polka Dots and Moonbeams, Frank Sinatra's first hit with Tommy Dorsey in 1940...

Art Pepper practicing the tenor saxophone in the basement of Synanon in Santa Monica, Calif., in 1969, courtesy of Laurie Pepper's Facebook page.

Dave Brubeck. Got a few million bucks? You may want to consider the former home of Dave and Iola Brubeck, which just came on the market in Wilton, Ct., for $2.75 million. I spent an afternoon there for the WSJ with Dave and his wife, Iola, in 2010 (go here) and have written about the house and architect Bev Thorne at JazzWax (go here, here and here). Thanks to Carl Woideck for bringing the listing to my attention.

Jimmy Sweeney was Elvis Presley's first vocal influence when Presley began recording at Memphis's Sun label in 1955. Listen to Sweeney's voice...

For Record Store Day on Saturday (September 26), Org Music is making available a vinyl album entitled Jimmy Sweeney: Without You, featuring 17 sides by the Black singer. To order from your nearest participating store, go here.

Here's Arthur Prysock in 1964 on Dick Clark's American Bandstand singing Close Your Eyes (sorry, the end is cut off)...

And here's Prysock in 1976 singing his disco hit, When Love Is New...

Autumn and Miles Ahead + 19

A month after I moved into my dorm along the Fenway in Boston in September 1974, I took the "T" to Harvard Square in Cambridge. The weather had already begun to turn blustery, as was the case in Boston back then. Fall slid toward winter's doorstep rather quickly. I'm not sure if that still happens now due to global warming. I remember, because I had my pea coat on with the collar up.

Emerging at Harvard Square, I headed over to the "Coop," a co-operative book store affiliated with Harvard and MIT that in the early '70s featured a record department with one of the best jazz sections in town. The Coop is housed in a brick Federalist building that dates back to 1882.

Down in the record department, I discovered Miles Davis and Gil Evans's Miles Davis: Miles Ahead +19. It happened to be playing on the speaker system and Davis's romantic horn backed by Evans's breathless arrangements captured my imagination instantly. I grabbed the album along with four others and headed back to Boston. [Photo above of Gil Evans and Miles Davis]

Ever since, Miles Ahead + 19 has been my autumn album. We all have one—music purchased in the fall that you always associate with the colorful, chilly season. For me, this one is it and always will be.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Miles Ahead + 19 (Columbia) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's the first song on the album; then all the other tracks follow. You just have to click on the embed at the end for the next track. Or click the link I provided and go to YouTube...

For longtime fans of the album, here's an "alternate" album that someone built out of alternate takes. To me, these sound like the rundown, when musicians, soloist and conductor simply feel their way along for the first time without concern for precision or perfection...