"This relaxed 3-CD set traces the musical history of Paris' fabled Left Bank... There are swing-oriented bandleaders such as Claude Bolling, Jacques Helian, Ray Ventura and Boris Vian, classic chanson singers such as Lys Gauty, Marianne Oswald and the emergent song stylists of the postwar era, like Juliette Greco Germaine Montero, Catherine Sauvage, and Leo Ferre. The early works by Greco, from 1950-1951, are particularly appealing, giving a glimpse of her raw, bright talent, before the excessive stylizations of the late '50s and '60s had set in. There's also a healthy dose of American-style jazz, with expatriate Americans such as saxophonist James Moody leading a mixed European-American band. All in all, this is a sweeping, cheerful, celebratory overview of one of the world's great cultural watersheds. A great collection that can lead you down many rewarding pathways."
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
