Singer-songwriter and humanist Charles Aznavour, departed from this earth almost a year ago, leaving us with a catalog of the human experience en chanson that points to our innermost desires, our fragility and the unstoppable march of time.
I am celebrating his life this fall together with
Musical Director Kathleen Landis on piano
@
Pangea, New York, September 23
&
The Pheasantry, London, October 11 & 12
Of Armenian descent, this wildly prolific French artist never ceased to remind us through his words, music and actions that we have much more in common than in difference. “People tell me their stories,” Aznavour once said, “and I try to write them down.” Music as his palette, he painted all aspects of our humanness. “There is nothing that cannot be turned into a song. Nothing too beautiful, too trivial, too ugly or too intimate.”
Indeed he never was afraid to shine the light onto the dark corners of life and love. Love… desired, dared, unrequited, love doubted, lost, forbidden or found again, he left no side of the prism unexamined as is well illustrated in numbers such as You’ve Let Yourself Go, What Makes a Man, Who? And I On My Chair or How Sad Venice Can Be.
...the mirror that Aznavour held to our face was at times harsh and confronting, showing us a murky, conflicted, often dramatic inner world. And yet he could make your heart swing on a breezy jazz tune, J’aime Paris au mois de mai, lift your spirit up with agile humor For Me Formidable and make you dream like no other, Take Me Along/Emmenez-moi. He taught me, a boy in Quebec with artistic aspirations, that one can write a full play in three stanzas, make you feel like you’ve seen an entire film in a few minutes.
Charles Aznavour’s influence on the international musical landscape is vast to say the least -CNN had declared him performer of the century in 1998. He hopped onto the stage at age 9 and came down from it at 94, exactly twice as old as Edith Piaf, a mentor to him when he was a youngster; he was still touring the world to offer his harvest of about 600 songs, near 50 albums; around 80 roles remain on the big and small screen.
94 years is a long run and I believe the man is best revealed through his creation, one that still bewilders me. I therefore invite you along with my dear friend and musical director Kathleen Landis at the piano, (Gauvain Gamon on bass in New York) to explore what we humans are made of in a few musical flashes snapped through the fascinated and fascinating lens of Charles Aznavour.
Gratefully yours,
I am thrilled that Richard Maheux was inspired
by my song to create this lovely video....
Ravi que Richard Maheux a été inspiré
par cette chanson pour créer cette belle vidéo
from the album / de l'album
Get your CD
about the album
“All at once tender, humorous and dramatic, a world where jazz, blues, pop, bebop and la chanson française swing together. ”
“The Canadian-born vocalist moves easily back and forth between English and French as both lyricist and singer. - Cabaret Scenes ”
“À la fois tendre, humoristique et dramatique, un monde où jazz, blues, pop, bebop et la chanson française 'swing' tous ensemble. ”