POLNAREST
I just came back from watching
Michel Polnareff, a French music icon, who made some very good rec's in the 60s/70s, and is playing in France for the first time in almost 20 years. He has been living in L.A. for some time, allegedly as a tax exile. The show was a big production, the kind of spectacle that usually leaves me cold, but Polnareff has enough history behind him to ground the evening to a legitimate foundation. His popularity is in no doubt--this was the 3rd of some 12 nights at the Bercy, capacity 15,000, at €100/ticket. Musically, he moves between piano ballads (he is more than decent on the piano), some old timey rock n' roll, sort of bizarre disco, and afew other stops on the wheel. You could easily compare him to Elton John in terms of popularity (among French speakers), flamboyant eyewear, and pop sensibility, and that liberal touch of wackiness. I don't think Polnareff has Elton's sense of self-deprecation, and thus considers himself a serious artiste...or so it comes across (he has the right). Hey, it was good to get into the mindset of my neighbors in my adopted country. Thanks to Xavier from Tahiti 80 who turned me on to Polnareff a few years ago.
CRANS-MONTANA 3/2
This was my third visit in just over a year to the side-by-side mountain villages of Crans and Montana, in the Valais region of southwestern Switzerland, so I believe I have described the town and the area in sufficient detail in previous posts.
My show this time was a private show, put on the by some of the organizers of the
Caprices festival (which I played last year) and some of their friends, ostenisbly a birthday party for several people at once, but in a sense it was sort of the kickoff for the festival, a sort of last hurrah before everyone involved is buried in the work of pulling the thing off successfully. It was held in the Bar La Table, which is a tiny basement bar below the Restaurant
Le Plaza. The place is owned and operated by the friendly Sébastien Bonvin, (whose grandfather is a local
vingneron of great talent--we enjoyed his reserve muscat at dinner). The bar is small and narrow but hardly a dive--it's white and red theme is stylish and really elevates the mood in such a way that you never think of yourself as being in a basement. Even with the partygoers crammed in, it was never claustrophobic that night. I played my bits, and as in my previous two visits, there was an extended jam at the end with local musicians, the hosts, and others--including the guitarist from a cool local band called Waterlily.
The party went pretty late, but I managed to enjoy the view from my room at the Hotel Eden in the morning before checking out. I spent the day walking around the village, taking lunch at La Plaza again (I bought some local wine as well). I had a late train back, getting into Paris at about midnight. I walked home from Gare de Lyon, through the remains of a busy Saturday night, running into some local musicians on their way out of the Bar
Le Motel by my flat. I gotta hang there more often...but my visit to Paris is brief...tomorrow I am leaving town to an undisclosed location to do some writing and recording.
Love
KS
Paris
