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A brief history of the French traditional music revival and a look ahead at the year's French festival scene, all conducted by Guillaume Veillet, compiler of the Rough Guide To The Music Of France CD. This article originally appeared in May 2003 in Froots magazine as part of a special issue on traditional and world music in France. It is reproduced here on the Les Panards Dansants website by kind permission of the author and publisher.
I suppose it was a perfectly normal reaction for an ethnocentric French tourist, visiting a big British record store for the first time. There were two things I wanted to find out: did they have a 'world music' section? Did they stock French CDs there? The answer to both questions was 'yes', but I was surprised to see which artists were included: Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg, Jane Birkin (English, but wife of the latter!) All big names of the chanson française scene. So our light music is 'world music' for you? Interesting change of perspective!
During recent years, the range has somehow widened. The Parisian melting-pot has given birth to an incredibly dynamic roots music scene, which is well-known in Britain. Artists like Manu Chao, Lo'Jo or Souad Massi are now a hit in record stores or at festivals. There's no need to cross the Channel to listen to French-based global sounds - a trip to Womad is enough to make you happy. However, you non-frogs are missing something if you've not yet come across the vitality of French regional music. There is so much to discover, and this summer seems like the perfect time to attend your first French folk festival or discover a new one.
Before taking you on a short Tour de France of the main events, some background information may be useful. France is composed of very different regions, each keeping its traditions and its local language, it is hardly surprising, therefore, that the French folk scene is very diverse. Bagpipes and hurdy-gurdies from central France, Catalan coblas, Breton kan ha diskan singing, Alpine fiddles the list is almost endless, and there is a strong revival movement in most places. Traditional instruments have never been so popular as they are today and young musicians have never been so talented. The context is favourable: many CDs, and sheet music or tablatures are available to learn the local repertoire. Furthermore, quality training courses are organised throughout France for would-be bagpipers, melodeon players and singers.
The younger generation, though, doesn't realise how much it owes to American and British folk revivalists of the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, traditional music had bad press in France. The memory of Maréchal Pétain's Vichy regime was vivid. The ultra-reactionary government of the early 1940s had tried to impose folk song as the symbol of an idealised rural life. This failed, of course, and after World War II, only a few Gallic crooners like Yves Montand added some traditional songs to their repertoire. They would perform them like any fashionable light song, accompanied by a piano or a big music hall orchestra. Of course, the countryside was still full of good singers and fiddlers, but there were less and less opportunities for them to perform. Local folk dances were replaced with Parisian-inspired bal-musette (and later, rock music), and there were no young musicians to hand the torch to. Only a few ethnomusicologists continued to study this fast-disappearing rural world.
Then came Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Ewan McColl. There was a resurgence of interest in the 'voice of the people' in English-speaking countries. This spread quickly to France. As early as 1964, singer Lionel Rocheman created the first French 'hootenanny' at a Parisian student centre, the Centre Américain d'Etudiants & d'Artistes. Several other folk clubs were founded in the mid-1960s, very much on the British model (a small admission fee, no more than two songs per performer, and a friendly atmosphere). The big stars of the time were people like Joan Baez or Bob Dylan, who was popularised in France by Hugues Auffray who translated his songs. Quite understandably, everybody was singing American songs or playing 'old time' tunes. Several English-speaking performers like Roger Mason and John Wright made a name for themselves in this small, but rapidly expanding music scene.
It was British-born John Wright who finally asked the simple, but fundamental question: 'Why stick to American or English stuff? Isn't there a local repertoire?' There was, indeed. It was rich, diverse and, fortunately, the last bearers of the tradition were still there to transmit their knowledge to a younger generation. Hundreds of highly motivated city dwellers started scouring the countryside, recording old singers, fiddlers, bagpipers and accordeonists. Some of them had stored their instruments away in a dusty attic years ago, and were amazed to see that their music exerted such a great fascination over a bunch of kids from the city. This led to some misunderstandings, but also to life-changing encounters. Some source singers recorded in the early 1970s are still worshipped today; among them Madame Bertrand, the Goadeg sisters from Brittany, Louise Reichert in southern France, and fiddler Emile Escalle in the French Alps.
The Mouvement Folk was born. It developed in clubs like Le Bourdon and Le TMS in Paris and La Chanterelle in Lyons. The first festivals were set up, often in rural areas (Lambesc in 1970, Malataverne in 1971, Pons in 1973). Soon folk music reached the concert halls - harpist Alan Stivell, born in Celtic Brittany, and his band were top of the bill. They tried to create a Breton pop sound which attracted a wide audience. Their concert at the Olympia hall in Paris in 1973 was an outstanding moment and the live album, recorded for the occasion, still sells well 30 years later.
Regional music often had a strong political motivation at the time. Singing in your local language was a way of asserting your own roots and denouncing the hyper-centralised French state, which refused to acknowledge local traditions and cultures. Some, though, felt less concerned with this regionalist perspective. Stivell's guitarist, 20-year-old Gabriel Yacoub, for instance, wanted to explore the French-speaking repertoire. In 1973 he recorded what may be the first trans-French folk album, including songs and tunes from all over the country. Its title, Pierre de Grenoble, comes from a well-known traditional ballad. Yacoub went on to found Malicorne, the most influential band of the 1970s. Malicorne albums are still a fascinating listening experience, 20 years after the band separated in 1981. Their music could be compared to that of Steeleye Span. Gabriel Yacoub is a Martin Carthy fan, and Malicorne even recorded their own Almanach album in 1976. Other folk superbands of the time include the polyphonic trio Mélusine, La Bamboche from central France, Tri Yann from Brittany (still going) and Perlinpinpin Folc from southern France.
Just like in the UK, folk music became less fashionable in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the same time, it gained official recognition from the new Socialist government which came to power in 1981. A roots music lover, Maurice Fleuret, became head of the national institution dealing with dance and music. Therefore grassroots associations and festivals were more readily sponsored and supported. Several Regional Centres For Traditional Music were created or institutionalised, like Dastum in Brittany or the Conservatoire Occitan in Toulouse. The name musique folk was replaced in official texts with the more serious musique traditionnelle. Thus folk musicians became traditional musicians!
The pioneering folk enthusiasts of the 1970s were a bit older, and in a way they became the source singers and musicians for a new generation. Many of them also found work in state-financed institutions. For instance, bagpipes wizard Jean Blanchard, co-founder of La Bamboche, now heads the Centre For Traditional Music in the Rhône-Alpes region. His pal, Eric Montbel, does the same in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region. Jean-François Dutertre, of Mélusine fame, was for several years in charge of the national Information Centre For Traditional Music, the CIMT. You could say that these people help to promote traditional music in two ways: they are still talented and respected performers, but they also hold a position of responsibility. Let us not forget that France is now a multicultural society. As a result these local institutions are not only concerned with deeply-rooted regional music. Their task is to promote any traditional music played in their area, which includes music from African or Asian migrants. The mix is not an artificial one: contemporary French roots music is an incredible melting-pot. Over the years, French-born musicians have got used to exchanging ideas and playing with musicians from other backgrounds or cultures.
Brittany is especially dynamic as far as cross-cultural musical experiences are concerned. Kan ha diskan specialist, Yann-Fanch Kemener, has worked a lot with jazz pianist Didier Squiban and now sings accompanied by cellist Aldo Ripoche. His friend, Erik Marchand, tours Europe with a Romanian gypsy band, the Taraf de Caransebes. The two albums they recorded together - Dor (BMG, 1998) and Sag an tan ell (Silex, 1994) - went virtually unnoticed in Britain, yet they are masterpieces combining Breton singing at its best and the energy of Gypsy music. Marchand has also collaborated with Gypsy-influenced guitarist Thierry 'Titi' Robin (fR208), who recently released a CD with Rajasthani singer Gulabi Sapera, as well as with Albanian and Sardinian polyphonic ensembles. There are many other examples which also deserve a mention: The Bagad Men Ha Tan, a traditional Breton pipe band, which has recorded a good album with Senegalese percussionist Doudou N'Diaye Rose. The dance band, Carré Manchot, who often play with a West Indian ensemble, Akiyo Ka and so the list goes on.
To sum up the state of the nation as far as traditional music is concerned: there is a lively roots scene which is very diverse, where people are not afraid of sharing the stage with musicians from other cultures. So where can someone listen to all this stuff? Time to begin our musical Tour de France! As we are talking about a centralised country, it may be wise to start in Paris. The international capital of 'world music' has a lot to offer to fans of raï, Congolese soukous, Moroccan gnawa music and the rest. The Maison des Cultures des Mondes (101, boulevard Raspail, Paris) organises its Festival de l'Imaginaire each year in early spring, which features very traditional music from all over the world. The Information Centre For Traditional Music (CIMT) also has its own festival, called Planète Musiques, which tries to promote French regional music in the intimate setting of the Maroquinerie concert hall. For bigger venues, try the brand new Stade de France - each year, for Saint-Patrick's Day, people gather there in their tens of thousands to listen to the most famous names on the Celtic music scene (Alan Stivell, Dan Ar Braz, Carlos Nuñez). Later in the spring, folk fans should not miss the Festival Musiques & Danses du Monde, one of the oldest in existence. It takes place in a pretty park in Courcouronnes, in the Parisian suburbs (this year, it is on May 24th). In June, the admirers of Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt may wish to visit his hometown, Samois-sur-Seine, for the local jazz festival which features many Manouche (Gypsy) musicians (June 23rd-29th).
A pilgrimage to Brittany could be your next step. Of course, attending at least one fest noz (night dance) is almost compulsory! In summertime they are numerous. Every small town is bound to host at least one, in the village hall or under a big tent especially set up for the occasion. People gather in their hundreds to dance to the traditional an dro, suite gavotte, suite plinn, suite fisel Naturally, they also drink and eat a lot. At such an event you can hear two symbolic local instruments: the bombarde, a loud and high-pitched oboe, and the biniou, a kind of small bagpipe, although nowadays folk-rock bands have added guitars and a rhythm section to this traditional duet. Festou noz are popular, so they pay well and allow several hundred Breton musicians to make a living from their music. In a way, it helps the home scene to remain dynamic and creative.
It seems an impossible task to list all of the interesting Breton music festivals. The biggest event is, of course, the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, which is the meeting point for hundreds of thousands of Celtic music fans. This year it takes place from August 1st-10th. What else? Clarinet lovers may wish to attend the yearly Rencontres Internationales de Clarinette Populaire which usually takes place in May in the Finistère département. Other festivals to look out for in the summer are the less specialist Tombées de la Nuit in Rennes (early July), or the Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper (July 19th-27th). Finally, there is one event which is very special to all traditional song lovers. The Bogue d'Or is organised in October in Redon, a small town in the Gallo country (the French-speaking part of Brittany). It is a competition where each contestant performs a song, often self-collected (for the younger singers) or passed on through family tradition. Indeed the Redon area still has many source singers who take part in the contest and often (but not always) win!
Outside Brittany, another outpost of folk music is central France. In the former province of Berry, the small village of Saint-Chartier welcomes the annual Rencontres Internationales de Luthiers & Maîtres-Sonneurs (maîtres-sonneurs are traditional bagpipers and hurdy-gurdy players, as described by 19th-century writer, George Sand). This festival, maybe the most friendly and enjoyable of all, was created in 1976 as a professional event for traditional instrument makers, but it soon became the meeting point of all folk music fans. The official festival is set up in the park of Saint-Chartier Castle. In the day, you can browse among the instrument makers' stands, chat with friends and learn the latest news. Everybody brings their instruments, and there is music everywhere. Each night there is a big concert. The fringe festival kicks off afterwards, just outside the castle. Here, several dance floors allow hundreds of people to take part in all-night folk dancing sessions (including the local favourite, the bourrée). Some hardcore revellers don't even bother to sleep or wash for five days. There is mud everywhere, anyway, and there are no hot showers around so there seems little point This year, the festival takes place between July 11th and July 14th.
When Saint-Chartier is over, many crazy dancers go on to attend the Grand Bal de l'Europe that follows, not too far away in the small town of Gennetines, where they can keep dancing for a week. Would-be participants should note, however, that there is a limited number of tickets available and advanced reservation is advised.
If you fancy a break after ten days of frenetic dancing, you could head to southern France. Regionalists call the area 'Occitania' (the place where Occitan is spoken). The Mediterranean town of Marseille, the second biggest French town, has a very lively home scene, symbolised by the Occitan ragga-dub band Massilia Sound System. They are part of a wider musical family, which also include the Fabulous Trobadors, from Toulouse, or La Talvera, from the Midi-Pyrenees region. One good way of learning more about Occitan culture is to attend the Estivada Festival in Rodez (late July each year). There is also a good annual world music festival in Arles, near Marseille and the Camargue, in mid-July.
If you are a fan of polyphonic singing, there are three regions worth visiting in southern France: Nice, on the French Riviera, the small Mediterranean island of Corsica and the Basque country. Then there are all the specialist festivals, created by fanatics for fanatics. Accordeon lovers attend the Fête de l'Accordéon in Saint-Léger sous Beuvray (Eastern Burgundy, in mid-August) or the Nuits de Nacre in Tulle (late September). There is also a festival dedicated to Cajun music in Saulieu (Burgundy) in early August. Tullins, in the Isère département, specialises in blues, bluegrass and country, whilst hurdy-gurdy fans go to the Fête de la Vielle en Morvan in Anost (in late August). Because it is fashionable, a 'Celtic Festival' is always organised by several non-Breton towns like Vic-le-Comte (late June) or Bourg-de-Péage (late August).
If you want to know more then refer to the main French folk magazine, Trad Magazine, which publishes `a 24-page supplement every year in its May/June issue. This contains useful information about summer folk festivals which should help. Bon été!
Follow-up:
For more information, check out these web sites, though the list is not exhaustive.
Text copyright (2003) Guillaume Veillet, images copyright Froots magazine Reproduced by kind permission