“When at full speed/The showers rush/I look for your name/Oh I’m dying but I know/That all the hawks/Over my soul will watch…” Sung at the opening of the evening by the soothing voice of Morgane Imbeaud, the second verse of Col de la Croix-Morand seems to designate all those who, this Saturday, May 25, chose to pay tribute to its author, the musician Jean-Louis Murat.
Stunned, a year ago to the day, by the brutal surprise of his death, from a pulmonary embolism, at the age of 71, the well-wishers “hawks” – around twenty musicians, but also a writer, a filmmaker… – met in Clermont-Ferrand, at the initiative of the Salle de la Coopérative de Mai, for a sold-out concert. Called “Keeping You Close,” it was as much a celebration as it was a group therapy.
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A few kilometers from the isolated home of the peasant dandy, in Douharesse, in the commune of Orcival, and the mountain landscapes which have continued to irrigate his repertoire, the current music scene of the Arverne metropolis, to the gauge with 1,500 seats, can claim a feeling of proximity. Especially since the direction of the show was entrusted to close friends, like the “musical director”, Denis Clavaizolle, multi-instrumentalist and composer associated with a dozen albums by the singer, from the mid-1980s to 2023 .
In a hurry, the faithful accomplice structured a core of instrumentalists (himself on keyboards and guitar; his son Yann Clavaizolle on drums; Guillaume Bongiraud on cello and bass), and launched his invitations. The date was not compatible with the schedule of admirers like Benjamin Biolay, Camille or Carla Bruni, “but most responses were quick and enthusiastic”notes the keyboardist.
“Professor in melancholy”
Three recently published books – Jean-Louis Murat. The undone linkby Franck Vergeade (Séguier, 208 pages, 21 euros), Jean-Louis Murat. The days of the jaguarby Pierre Andrieu (Le Boulon, 252 pages, 34 euros) and Jean-Louis Murat. Roman crowd, by Antoine Couder (Seveninches/Le Boulon, 126 pages, 12 euros) – recall the essential impact that the dark singer had on the French pop scene. Despite uncertain commercial success, Murat was one of the first, with Alain Bashung, to reconcile a passion for Anglo-Saxon rock and a demand for writing worthy of the best French-speaking writers.
“A bit like the Velvet Underground, its artistic influence was inversely proportional to its commercial success, once the gold records of Cheyenne Autumn [1989] And The Rain Coat [1991] »analyzes, behind the scenes, the musician Alex Beaupain, after having performed, with Frédéric Lo, delicate versions of Fort Alamo And The Blue Trainboth taken from Dolores (1996).
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