Anything Goes

I uploaded this song from the great Cole Porter before and actually, the same interpretation by the great Ella Fitzgerald. I have decided to do upload it again, like I do sometimes with songs, partly because I love Anything Goes and mainly because my wife and I are going to see the musical of the same name this month. I am not the biggest fan of musicals, but I want to see stage productions more often this year and I love the music of Cole Porter, so I think I will enjoy this one tremendously. I truly discovered Cole Porter back in 1993-1994, when my mother received a CD set of his work at Christmas. I knew some of his songs, but it is only then that I really got into it. Mum was and is still a big fan. I don't think I ever listened to that much jazz than this winter. It will be nice to rediscover Cole Porter and see his work on stage, which will be a completely new experience for me.

Sinnerman

I don't think I ever put soul music here. Anyway, since I watched The Great Train Robbery I have Sinner Man or Sinnerman in my head, as it was featured in the drama. Even though it was probably not conscious, the beat mimics very well the sound of a train running. And it is a good ten minutes song, just for this it deserves respect in a day and age when music is so manufactured and attention span of audiences is ridiculously short. Because I fell in love with it, I decided to upload it here. This is the version of Nina Simone, maybe the most famous one and the one featured in the drama.

Wheel of Fortune (Kay Starr)

I am re watching L.A. Confidential. And since then I have a song in the head, performed by Kay Starr. It is Wheel of Fortune, which you can hear in this sequence. I love the soundtrack of the movie. This song reminds me of another one, a much older one. You don't need to be a gambler to understand the fleeting nature of luck and the expectation you have about it. I upload it here for the lyrics and because I very rarely upload jazz on this blog.

Le Festival de Jazz de Montréal

Petit billet en ce 28 juin, si jamais il y a des amateurs de jazz parmi vous qui ne le savent pas (ce qui est peu probable): c'est le début du Festival de Jazz de Montréal. Ou le Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, comme son nom officiel l'indique. C'est international. Petite confession comme ça: je ne suis pas particulièrement amateur de jazz et je suis plutôt philistin en général en ce qui concerne mes goûts sur le jazz. J'y suis allé deux fois. C'était bien, mais le jazz n'étant pas ma musique de prédilection, ce n'est pas ce qui me manque le plus de mon village. Mais j'aimerais savoir ce que vous pensez du festival.

Ella Fitzgerald

Once again, a Google Doodle: it is Ella Fitzgerald's 96th birthday today. This time I will not upload the Doodle, however beautiful it is, I don't want Vraie Fiction to look like, well, a Google Doodle gallery. I am not that much into jazz, I know very little about it, but I love the voice of Ella Fitzgerald, especially when she sings Cole Porter, like she does in Anything Goes, the song I uploaded. Mum had received a pack of three CDs of Cole Porter songs one Christmas (1993), which I listened to a lot at the time. Because of the fond memories, I have uploaded it here.

Music in the park

Today when I opened the windows of the flat I could hear music coming from the small (very small) music festival taking place the little park nearby. Since it is not every day that we have a festival virtually at the doorstep and that it is important to get in touch with a community we technically belong to we decided to go there. There was not many people, but a nice little number of families, young children, elderly people, and a few dogs. The music was American folk stuff sung a capella by a couple, not exactly my favourite thing, but they did also sing On the Bank or the Roses, which is enough to make me happy. The local radio station (the same one that was supposed to air an audio recording of the play I was in but has not done so yet) also played some music from the... Montreal Jazz Festival. Strange how close I can feel from home sometimes.

There was also a good deal of real ales available, some of them from the local brewery. Sadly, as I had drank a lot the night before with my colleagues, my liver and stomach were in no state to receive more alcohol today (I don't believe in hair of the dog remedies). So I did not appreciated this afternoon out as much as I could have had, had I not been hangover. It was still a lovely time, just warm enough to be comfortable and just quiet enough for a public event. And there is more of it tomorrow...

A legendary building in Montreal

Those who can read French among my readers have probably noticed that I blogged about the police recently. With this post, one could think that this blog is turning into a kind of "police work" chronicle. I am a big crime fiction aficionado, and through it I developed a keen interest ont real crime history and real crime news. I also developed a deep admiration for real crime fighters and what they accomplish. And Québec in general and Montreal in particular has a fascinating crime history that could make great novels.

Anyway, I am a spoiled blogger: Jazz from Hapazardlife wrote a post just for me, with a picture of one of my favourite buildings in Montreal, the headquarters of the Sûreté du Québec. As I said in my comment on her post, I love this building not because it is particularly interesting for an architectural standpoint (although it might be), but because of what it represents, because of the history it has. This is where the strategies to put an end to the Québec Biker War were made, when outside little thugs thought that Montreal was their hunting grounds, this is where Maurice "Mom" Boucher was imprisoned, this is where the men who destroyed his empire worked, this is where the first strikes of so many battles against organised crime, many of them ongoing, were ordered. The Parthenais headquarter is our Scotland Yard, our J. Edgar Hoover Building. It should be better known. So I am glad Jazz gave it a bit of exposure.

Festivals, Montréal, absence

Alors qu'ici je n'en finis plus de finir l'année scolaire, au Québec on est déjà en vacances et à Montréal il y a le Festival de Jazz qui doit battre son plein. Cela dit, j'ai une confession à faire: le jazz ne m'a jamais particulièrement attiré. Je ne déteste pas, j,aime en écouter de temps en temps, surtout des vieux classiques, mais je ne suis pas un connaisseur, pas même un amateur. En fait, côté jazz, je suis plutôt inculte et ça ne m'a jamais dérangé. Je suis allé au Festival de Jazz deux ou trois fois dans ma vie, dont une fois en 2005 avec ma femme, il faisait une canicule épouvantable mais on avait bien aimé, quoique ce que j'avais apprécié le plus c'est un spectacle de marionettes en pleine rue, lequel était un peu incongru pour l'évènement. On avait aussi assisté gratuitement à un spectacle de Ron Sexsmith, qui paraît-il est un grand nom du jazz contemporain. Je suis inculte, vous dis-je, surtout à propos des dieux du jazz branché. L'ennui au Festival de Jazz, c'est qu'on sert de la bière de grosse brasserie (des produits Labatt je crois) et que c'est hors de prix pour ce que ça vaut (et ce que ça goûte!).

Parland de bières et de festivals, c'est le Mondial de la Bière qui m'a manqué le plus cette année. Cette année et, je dois l'avouer, les autres années aussi, puisque je n'y ai été qu'une fois. Il est vrai que, vivant en Angleterre maintenant, les festivals brassicoles ne manquent pas.