Cathy Jean Little Sick Twist

In selecting the program for his first solo recording, Jean-Willy Kunz was naturally drawn to music by composers from his native France including Jehan Alain, Charles-Marie Widor, Marcel Dupré, and Louis Vierne, while a work by Québécois Maxime Goulet provides a contemporary flavor. These are paired with the great Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach.

Lilith is the 2003 release by France's most creative singer-songwriter. With 23 songs this double CD has plenty of space to hit on many styles and feelings. Less "poppy" than his pre-Mustango albums. Lilith continues Murat's trend toward simpler arrangements that will remind English speaking audiences of the Velvet Underground(Emotion), Matthew Sweet(Le Cri du Papillon), and of course Neil Young and Leonard Cohen.

How did you develop a taste for both music and piano? Jean-Jacques Bedikian: Simply in the family context. My father liked to gather at home friends or relatives who were amateur musicians, and he enjoyed these improvised concerts which took a large part of traditional, popular, or film music, as well as the classical repertoire. I would stay up as late as possible to listen, I would even wake back up to do so, and this is how the first contact with music took place, and also the awakening of the desire to get my hands on the piano keys. In fact, when I heard a piece of music that moved me, I would try to play it, without having taken any lessons, to replicate first the melody, then a semblance of a harmonic framework. So I had the desire to learn the piano, which is why I was introduced to my first teacher.

These 1964 sessions marked jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty's recording debut as a leader. In spite of his choice of instrument, he was mainly influenced by bop musicians (especially saxophonists and trumpeters) rather than fellow Frenchmen, swing violinist Stéphane Grappelli. At this stage in his career, he chose mostly compositions by European musicians of his generation, along with tunes American jazz compositions that had stood the test of time. His angular playing in Martial Solal's "Une Nui Au Violon" contrasts with his later venture into jazz fusion, while his dash through Charlie Parker's "Au Privave" is almost immediately halted to first showcase drummer Daniel Humair then flautist Michel Portal before he takes center-stage with a blazing solo…

Tout Jean-Louis Murat est là, dans ce disque qui a marqué la fin d'une longue traversée du désert (ou dans son cas des volcans d'Auvergne). Après trois albums rapidement tombés dans l'oubli et un semi-succès avec le single "Suicidez- vous, le peuple est mort", Murat a disparu pendant plusieurs années pour peaufiner un grand retour. Et c'est bien de ça qu'il s'agit : un classique, l'inauguration d'un nouveau style, celui d'un chanteur de charme, à la voix chaude, qui a assimilé l'exigence littéraire de Manset, les innovations techniques de la new wave, l'élégance distante d'un Bryan Ferry, la langueur bizarre d'un Robert Wyatt et quelques influences latines.