Madeleine Peyroux kısa biyografi...

(English version of this essay is under Turkish version below.)

Ocak 1973 ABD doğumlu olan Madeleine Peyroux günümüzde önde gelen caz vokallerden biridir. Bunun yanı sıra sanatçı aynı zamanda iyi bir gitarist ve şarkı yazarıdır. Sanatçının vokal stili Billie Holiday’e benzetilir ki zaman zaman onu dinlerken ben de Holiday’i dinler gibi oluyorum ve vokal tarzını oldukça beğeniyorum . Sanatçının etkisinde kaldığı müzisyenler arasında Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Edith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, Charlie Chaplin ve Bob Dylan’ı sayabiliriz.

Gelelim sanatçının hayat hikâyesine:

New York ve güney California’da çocukluğu geçen sanatçı ebeveynleri boşanınca henüz 13 yaşındayken annesiyle Paris’e gider. Pek çok röportajında ailesini hippilere benzeten sanatçı onalar için eksantrik eğitmenler ifadesini kullanır ki bu ona göre müzikal kariyerine katkı sağlamıştır. Babasının daima eski plakları dinlediğini ve annesinin ise bir ukelelası olduğunu söyler ki daha çocukken bu aleti çalmasını öğrenmiştir. Peyroux 15 yaşında Paris’te sokak müzisyenlerini keşfettiğinde onlarla şarkı söylemeye başlar, sonrasında Riverboat Shufflers adlı gruba katılır. 16 yaşında The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band grubuna girer ve onlarla yıllarca Avrupa’da caz standartları seslendirir.

Altta/below I'm All Right...

Sanatçının ilk albümü olan Dreamland 1996 yılında Atlantic records tarafından yayımlanır ve büyük beğeni toplar. Albüm beş gecede ilginç bir ekiple kaydedilmiştir gitarist Marc Ribot, saksofonist James Carter, piyanist Cyrus Chesnut, kemanda Regina Carter davulda Kenny Wollesen gibi. Albüm birere Edith Piaf ve Patsy Cline cover’ı ve iki tane de Bessie Smith cover’ı içerir. İlk albüm sanatçının 21.yüzyılın Billie Holiday’i olarak algılanmasına sebep olur. Albüm sonrasında pek çok caz festivaline katılan sanatçı sonrasında altı yılını Paris’te geçirir arada ABD’de kimi kulüplerde sahne alır. Arada yine pek çok sanatçı ile ortak çalışmalar yapar ve böylece 2004’e kadar olan geniş bir süre geçer.

O yıl Rounder Records ile kontrat yapan sanatçı tanınmış prodüktör Larry Klein ile çalışmaya başlar ve sonucunda Eylül 2004’te ikinci albümü Careless Love yayımlanır. Albüm çok positif yorumlar alır ve satışı dünya genelinde bir milyonu geçer. Albüm Leonard Cohen’in ünlü parçası Dance Me To The End Of Love ile açılır ayrıca Bob Dylan’ın You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go parçası da sanatçının okuduğu parçalardandır. Yine Elliott Smith’in Between The Bars ve Hank Williams’ın Weary Blues’u albümde dikkat çeker. Her zaman olduğu gibi sanatçı bu albümde de Fransızca bir esere yer vermiştir, albümde yer alan tek orijinal parça ise Don’t Wait Too Long’ tur. Albümde yer alan sanatçının tekrar yorumladığı 20.yüzyılın ilk yarısındandır.

Sanatçı üçüncü albümü Half The Perfect World’ü ise Eylül 2006’da yayımlar. Albümde pek çok sanatçı ile çalışır ki içlerinde Jesse Haris, Walter Becker, Larry Klein – aynı zamanda albümün prodüktörü- ve k.d.lang sayılabilir ki onunla sanatçı Joni Mitchell’in ünlü River parçasını albümde yorumlamıştır. Bu albümde de parçalar özenle seçilmiştir ve genelde çağdaş sanatçıların parçalarını bu albümde tekrar yorumlamıştır. Bunlar içinde Blue Alert ve HJalf The Perfect World Cohen/Anjani parçaları olarak Smile bir Chaplin klasiği olarak dikkat çeker, yine bu albümde dört adette yepyeni beste yer alır. 3 Eylül 2006’da sanatçı canlı bir performans yapar Live From Abbey Road adlı programda ve 2007’de en iyi uluslararası caz sanatçısı olarak BBC Jazz Awards’ tan kazanır.

Altta/Below Was I?

Dördüncü albümü Bare Bones ise Mart 2009’da yayımlanır ve bu albüm sanatçının kariyerinde tüm bestelerin orijinal ve yeni olması dolayısıyla önemli bir mihenk taşıdır. Albüm yine prodüktör Larry Klein ile hazırlanır. Parça yazarları ise Walter Becker, Joe Henry, David Batteau ve Julian Corvell’dir. Abüm ayrıca sanatçının kendi bestesi I Must Be Saved’i de içerir, ilk tekli You Can’t Do That ise soul-rock ritimli sanatçı için yepyeni bir tarzdır. Albüm olumlu eleştiriler alır ve ardından sanatçı ABD, Kanada, Güney Amerika, Avrupa ve Asya’da büyük bir turneye çıkar.

 Kasım 2009’a gelindiğinde sanatçı ilk canlı konser albümü olan Somethin’Grand’ı yayımlar. DVD Ocak 2009’da Los Angeles’ta kaydedilmiştir.

4 Ocak 2011’de ise sanatçı kendi web sitesinde ilkbaharda yeni bir albüm yayımlayacağını duyurur. 15 Mart’ta ise albümün 14 Haziran’da çıkacağını açıklar, bu albüm bu kez Decca Records tarafından yayımlanacaktır. Albüm genelde kendisinin yeni bestelerini içerir, bu kez prodüktör Craig Street’ tir. Albüm öncesi sanatçı albümde yer alacak iki parçayı bir teklide yayımlar; bunlar Beatles’ın Martha, My Dear’i ve yeni bir çalışma olan The Things I've Seen Today’ dir. Bu EP 29 Mart’ta yayımlanır.

Sanatçı albüm tanıtımı için İş Sanat’ta Mayıs 2011’de konsere gelmişti ve konserde hemen hemen bu çıkacak albümün tüm parçalarını seslendirmişti. O gün kendisini ilk canlı seyredişimdi, sizlere tavsiyem ülkemize gelirse sakın kaçırmayın gidin, muhteşem bir yorumcu, gitarına çok hakim, seyirci ile temas kurup onları da olaya çekmeye bayılıyor.

Albüm için gitarda Marc Ribot, basta Me’shell Ndegeocello, davulda Charley Drayton yine gitarda Chris Bruce el veren isimlerdir. Ve Standing on the Rooftop albümü 6 Haziran 2011’de çıkar bunu büyük bir konser turnesi izler.

Bu arada sanatçının yeni albümü Mart 2013 itibariyle raflarda yerini aldı ki bu albüm bloğumuzda ayrı bir konu olarak işlenecek.

Altta/Below yeni albüm The Blue Room'dan ilk video, first video from the new album The Blue Room..

English Version:

Madeleine Peyroux (born 1973) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Peyroux is noted for her vocal style, which has been compared to that of Billie Holiday. Peyroux has cited Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Patsy Cline, Édith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Mercer, Charlie Chaplin, Serge Gainsbourg and Bob Dylan as influences on her music.

Peyroux's family was in academia. When Peyroux was six, her father moved the family to Brooklyn so he could pursue a career in acting. She grew up in New York City and southern California; when her parents divorced, she moved with her mother to Paris at age 13. In several interviews, Peyroux described her parents as "hippies" and classifies them as "eccentric educators", which helped her to pursue a career in music. She has stated that her father would "listen to old records all the time" and her mother had a ukulele that she learned how to play while she was still a child.

Peyroux started singing at the age of fifteen, when she discovered street musicians in the Latin Quarter

in Paris. She joined a group called the Riverboat Shufflers, first by passing around the hat, and then by singing. At sixteen she joined The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band and spent a number of years touring Europe performing jazz standards.Her first album, Dreamland was released in 1996 by Atlantic Records, and gained widespread attention. The disc was recorded over five nights with an unusually eclectic crew of some of NY's finest - guitarist Marc Ribot, saxman James Carter, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, keyboardist Charlie Giordano, violinist Regina Carter, drummers Kenny Wollesen & Leon Parker, with bassist/arranger Greg Cohen sharing production credit with Atlantic A&R man Yves Beauvais. It featured a cover of Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight", Édith Piaf's signature-song "La Vie en rose" and two Bessie Smith covers, among others. This first record resulted in her being referred to as the 21st century Billie Holiday, particularly owing to a "Gettin' Some Fun Out of Life" cover and to "Hey Sweet Man", an original song with a style highly reminiscent of Holiday. Time called it "the most exciting, involving vocal performance by a new singer this year". Peyroux began opening for artists such as Sarah McLachlan and Cesária Évora, and made appearances at jazz festivals and on the Lilith Fair tour. In 1997, she made an appearance at the Montreal Jazz Festival, where she performed with some guest artists, including James Carter. In this concert, Madeleine performed some standards like "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate", a cover included on Montreal's 30-years Best Of.

Peyroux spent much of the next six years busking in Paris, performing occasionally in clubs in the U.S., and generally living a low-key existence. She continued to contribute to works by other artists, but rarely appeared in clubs under her own name. In 1997, she covered the song "Life is Fine" as a

Rainer Ptácek tribute. She sings a duet, "A Fool at the Other", with American singer/songwriter Mick Reed on the album Courtney's Farm, by The Spring Valley Studs, which was released in 2003. The song appears again with the 2011 release of Mick Reed's album, Goodnight, Texas. In May 2002, she joined multi-instrumentalist William Galison, and together they appeared at such venues as the Bottom Line, Joe's Pub, and the Tin Angel. In 2003 the duo released a seven-song EP entitled Got You on My Mind, which they sold at shows and online. However, in 2003, their relationship ended. At the time, Peyroux was in negotiations with Rounder Records and showed the EP as demo. Although Peyroux claims she told the record company it was co-written with Galison, this has resulted in an ongoing lawsuit.Got You on My Mind was re-released by Galison in August 2004; the original EP was expanded by the addition of four tracks by Galison.

After signing up for Rounder, Peyroux was teamed with well-known record producer Larry Klein. In September 2004, she released her second solo album, Careless Love, to generally positive reviews. It went on to sell over a million copies worldwide and took her out of anonymity. The album opens with one of her best-known songs, a cover of Leonard Cohen's, "Dance Me to the End of Love", also featuring covers of Bob Dylan ("You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go"), Elliott Smith ("Between The Bars"), and Hank Williams ("Weary Blues"), among others. As usual, the album also contained a French track, "J'ai Deux Amours", and the only original track on the album was "Don't Wait Too Long" (in collaboration with Jesse Harris and Larry Klein). The songs she covered were

mostly from the first half of the 20th century but her choices showed, according to several reviews, "impeccable taste".[citation needed] Her third solo album, Half the Perfect World, was released on September 12, 2006. She collaborated with several artists, including Jesse Harris, Walter Becker, Larry Klein (who also produced the album), and k.d. lang, with whom Peyroux performed a cover of the Joni Mitchell song "River". Once again, the songs were carefully chosen, and she sang covers of more contemporary artists. Notable covers include "Blue Alert" and "Half the Perfect World" by Leonard Cohen/Anjani Thomas; "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin, John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons; a rendition of Serge Gainsbourg's "La Javanaise" and Tom Waits' "(Looking for) the Heart of Saturday Night". Unlike her previous album, Half the Perfect World had four original tracks. On September 3, 2006, Peyroux performed a live session for Live from Abbey Road at Abbey Road Studios. She shared her episode with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snow Patrol; it was aired in the UK on Channel 4 and in the USA on the Sundance Channel. On July 12, 2007, she was awarded Best International Jazz Artist at the BBC Jazz Awards.

Below/altta live performance...


Her fourth solo album, Bare Bones, released on March 10, 2009, was a turning point in Peyroux's career with all original tracks. The album was produced by Larry Klein and she collaborated with songwriters Walter Becker, Joe Henry, David Batteau, and Julian Coryell. The album featured a sole Peyroux-penned composition, "I Must Be Saved", and its first single was "You Can't Do Me", a song with a soul-rock beat, a new style for the vocalist. The album received mostly favorable reviews and the lyrics were praised. After its release the singer toured in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia. On November 23, 2009, Somethin' Grand, Peyroux's first live concert album, was released. The DVD was filmed and recorded in Los Angeles in January 2009. Her set included nine out of the eleven songs of Bare Bones and some others from the previous albums. The DVD also contained a documentary, Somethin' Grand - A Portrait of Madeleine Peyroux, which offered a glimpse of her background and history.

On January 4, 2011, Peyroux announced through her website that she would release a new album that spring. On March 15, she announced the actual release date to be June 14, 2011, under Decca

Records, and that the album was to consist mainly of her newly written songs. The album was produced by Craig Street (Norah Jones, k.d. lang, Cassandra Wilson) and "signals a new approach for the musician as she carries her jazz sensibilities into rootsier territory".[citation needed] She also offered a two-song preview of the new album: a cover of Beatles' song "Martha, My Dear" and a new original song "The Things I've Seen Today" which she co-wrote with vocalist/violinist Jenny Scheinman. The two-track EP was released on March 29. The album itself features contributions from Marc Ribot on guitar/banjo, Me'shell Ndegeocello on bass, drummer Charley Drayton (Keith Richards, Neil Young, Johnny Cash) and guitarist Chris Bruce (Seal, John Legend). The album was released on June 6, 2011. High-profile tour dates were to follow the release of the album.

Below/altta Between The Bars..


I had a chance to listen to her live in Istanbul about the promote concert of this album and I suggest to every one to see her in the stage. She is so natural, so funny and also so attractive musician, she can easily establish a good contact to audience.

Also her new album The Blue Room is released in this month and I will write a seperate review about it here.

Below/altta Hey Sweet Man...

Discography 

· Spreading Rhythm Around and Best Of, with The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band
· 1996: Dreamland (Atlantic)
· 2004: Got You on My Mind, with William Galison (Waking Up)
· 2004: Careless Love (Rounder) · 2006: Half the Perfect World (Rounder)
· 2009: Bare Bones (Rounder)
· 2011: Standing on the Rooftop (Emarcy/Decca)
· 2013: The Blue Room (Emarcy/Decca)