He has his face, all lips and teeth, his eyes slightly slanted. He has his voice. And even more, he has his passion. Arnaud Askoy brings Jacques Brel back to life, with accordionist Roland Romanelli, former accordionist and companion of Barbara, and cellist Jean-Philippe Audin at his side.
Their show, The Brel promisebegins a ten-day tour of Quebec.
The encounter of Arnaud Askoy, a former police officer and private detective, with the work of Grand Jacques was however improbable. When he was a teenager, he was often asked if he was the son of Jacques Brel, so striking was the resemblance. “I knew Brel, I remember seeing him as a child on TV. But it stopped there. » It was during a private detective’s hideout, while he was waiting in vain for an unfaithful husband to pass by, that he listened to a Brel record. Enthusiastic, he begins to hum, discovers a register similar to that of the artist, and records an extract. “I was the first to be surprised to hear that my voice “matched” with his, and I liked it. » He sends the recording to his mother who tells him: “It’s Jacques Brel. »
“First of all, it was hearing him that completely captivated me, his interpretation, the texts and everything. It completely grabbed me because I had been writing poetry for a very long time,” says Arnaud Askoy, met in Montreal.
A new destiny
From that moment on, his new destiny took shape. “In one night, I decided to change course,” he remembers. Arnaud Askoy, who was then called Arnaud Bassecourt, took singing lessons and worked on the entire Brel repertoire. “I worked like crazy, I worked on my voice every day. I watched videos every day. I started working on gestures, studying them, learning songs. » He then begins to sing in the streets.
“When I started, I was all alone,” says Arnaud Askoy. I had no one behind me. Nobody believed it. Nobody wanted me. »
He then met Laurent Delahousse, journalist from France 2. Struck by the resemblance, Delahousse asked him to play Brel in a documentary which recreated scenes from the singer’s life. “I did all the little reenactment scenes,” he says, without singing in the film. Then, Michou, cabaret owner and king of Montmartre, former friend of Jacques Brel, brings him on stage. But it was in the metro that producer Pierre-Nicolas Cléré discovered Askoy. He wants him to perform Brel in the best conditions, and puts him in contact with Roland Romanelli, who himself has already met Brel with Barbara.
-Arnaud [Askoy] managed to touch me, to make me unable to refuse. So, by accompanying him, I accompany Brel. For me, it’s a kind of reincarnation.
A youthful dream
For Romanelli, who signed the arrangements for the show, accompanying Brel was a childhood dream. “Barbara wanted me to accompany Brel. She said to me: “Why don’t you accompany Jacques?” » he remembers. “They were very friends, they loved each other very much. They had the same way of thinking, of seeing the profession. They were two truly exceptional beings. Whenever they had the chance, they saw each other. […] Brel experiences his emotion 1000%,” he says.
But by the time this could have been possible, Jacques Brel had already stopped singing. “So, I didn’t have this chance to realize my teenage dream. I wanted to accompany Brel or Barbara. I had the chance to accompany Barbara. I said to myself: “I only miss Brel”. And when they came to pick me up to meet Arnaud, I said to myself “I’ll see how it goes”. I was very scared, because I don’t like copies or covers. Me, I take Barbara again, but it’s not the same, I tell my life […] »
By accompanying Arnaud Askoy, Roland Romanelli nevertheless has the impression of realizing his dream. “Arnaud managed to touch me, to make sure that I couldn’t refuse. So, by accompanying him, I accompany Brel. For me, it’s a kind of reincarnation. »
To get even closer to Jacques Brel, Arnaud Askoy even had to swap his last name. Rather than Bassecourt, a name that would not fit well on a show poster, he chose Askoy, the name of Brel’s boat, on which the artist went to the Marquesas Islands, where he died. Arnaud Askoy also sang to raise funds for the restoration of this boat, which was recently put back in the water.
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