Margot Sergent - Douce France (Charles Trenet - COVER)

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Douce France Sweet France
CD Release Date: December 8, 2023
UPC Code: 880956230825
Availability: Worldwide
Selection #: ZM ZM 202308
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Musicians:
Margot Sergent - voice
Sean Patrick Brennan - guitar
Alec Safy - bass
Linus Wyrsch - clarinet
In one song after another, Margot Sergent tells a story and makes it ours as well as hers. Keep the Moon In Mind, she tells us, is about several things at once: traveling through the desert with a female companion who favored “high heels” and “silky dresses,” which seemed very much out of place on that particular landscape. As they cross the dunes, they speak of life and observe the stars-which are abundantly overwhelming at night in the desert-and discuss them both scientifically and philosophically as vehicles of the imagination (“Always wishing on a shooting star/Unreachable, untouchable”).
Mademoiselle Sergent’s ensemble is unique in the annals of French, American, or any other kind of jazz; the overall group sound is light and floating, as if suspended in midair and not tethered to the ground in any palpable way, but nonetheless swinging. As the pivot point of the group, her harp sounds like a guitar and a piano both at the same time, as the primary melodic and harmonic, not to mention rhythmic nexus. She is almost a one-woman show, especially on the many songs that she wrote here.
Margot has created a group sound that perfectly suits her translucent, airy, beautiful soprano voice and her lightly swinging style as both singer and instrumentalist; the group is light and yet profound at the same time. It’s especially impressive in the way that they take some of the heavier French songs, like Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne à l’Amour which is normally performed as a big dramatic belt number (even in English as “If You Love Me”) and Charles Aznavour’s La Bohème, traditionally rendered as a rather somber waltz. Nino Ferrer’s La Rua Madureira, which is essentially a duo between Margot and guitarist Patrick Brennan, likewise could be a dark tale about a tragic incident by a composer who also died tragically. Yet Margot and company take all of these songs and make them lighter without compromising any of their dramatic power.
Margot also underscores why Charles Trenet is my favorite French songwriter. Only Trenet could write a love song to his native country - Douce France” - and have it not sound like a dreary anthem. Likewise only Trenet could write a bittersweet song of farewell and have it be more optimistic rather than despondent; loving, forgiving, and compassionate rather than accusatory. Margot brings out and enhances all these qualities in Trenet’s music and words, particularly in her dual-language reading of Que reste-t-il de nos amours? (“I Wish You Love”).
That’s what superior storytellers do-they take hold of your imagination and guide you through their stories. But soon enough, it isn’t about them, it’s about you; they’re like spirit guides who help you to find yourself in their narratives. It isn’t about the words or the notes but the feelings that they inspire. - Will Friedwald
Produced by Margot Sergent. Associate Producer: Stephen Hanks. Musical producer: Tal Yahalom. Arrangers: Tal Yahalom (1, 5, 7, 9); Freddie Bryant (3);
Margot Sergent, Tal Yahalom (2, 4, 6, 8, 10). Sound Engineer: Daniel Bloch, Aaron Nevezie. Mixing and Mastering.: Daniel Bloch, David Darlington. Recorded at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, NY, and Hook and Fade Studios, Brooklyn, NY, in November 2022 and January 2023. Photography: Alan Bresson. Art direction and package design: Al Gold. Executive Producer: Joachim “Jochen” Becker.
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More info :
Visit margotsergent.com

[@ChironZore]

Love this!
🥰

[@scottalbert2628]

Love love love!

[@MargotSergentOfficial]

Thanks so much Scott for making it happen!