Brigitte Fontaine

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Brigitte Fontaine (2010)

Brigitte Fontaine (born June 24, 1939 in Morlaix ) is a French singer, actress and writer. She is an extremely versatile musician and has worked in genres as diverse as chanson , rock , jazz , folk , electronica and world music throughout her career . She has cooperated with numerous prominent musicians of these genres, including a. Areski Belkacem , Jacques Higelin , Stereolab , Michel Colombier , Jean-Claude Vannier , the Gotan Project , Sonic Youth , Antoine Duhamel , Grace Jones , Noir Désir , Archie Shepp and the Art Ensemble of Chicago . She has also published several novels, poems and plays.

biography

Fontaine is the daughter of a teacher couple and spent her childhood in the small village of Morlaix in the Finistère department in Brittany . When she was seventeen, she moved to Paris to become an actress. She quickly made a name for herself in the Parisian theater scene and appeared, for example, in Eugène Ionesco's Bald Singer at the Theâtre de la Huchette . At the same time, she began to work as a singer and performed her own songs in the opening act of well-known chansonniers, among others. a. Barbara and Georges Brassens . With Jacques Higelin and the actor Rufus , she wrote and played the successful play Maman j'ai peur (ou Est-ce que les veaux font des manières?) , Which had two seasons in Paris.

In 1965 and 1968 she released two albums with Jacques Higelin on which they sang chansons by Boris Vian . In 1969 the collaboration with the Kabyle musician Areski Belkacem (mostly just called Areski) began, which continues to this day . Together with Areski and Higelin she developed and played the musical theater revue Niok at the Petit Théâtre du Lucernaire. Pieces from the following revue Comme à la radio , based on poems and lyrical prose by Fontaine, found their way into the album of the same name, which was recorded together with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Areski and is considered to be a bridge between chanson and jazz. The chanson "Lettre à monsieur le chef de gare de La Tour de Carol" included on this LP became a small radio hit - the LP received the renowned Grand Prix du Disque de la Chanson Française of the Charles Cros Academy and is still one of the most popular recordings of Fontaine.

In the following years she experimented with Areski in different musical styles such as chanson, jazz and African music as well as with theatrical and lyrical texts. Most of her LPs appeared on the small independent label Saravah and found only a small audience at the time of their release, but are now among the most important releases of the musical underground in France in the 1960s and 1970s.

In the eighties it became musically quieter around Fontaine and Areski. The only record releases during this time were the single Les Filles d'aujourd'hui from 1984 and the LP French Corazon , which came out in 1988. During this time, Fontaine concentrated primarily on the theater, and also published novels and short stories. In 1982 she played with Areski in the play L'inconciliabule ou Acte II (directed by Areski Belkacem), which she wrote , and in 1985 she brought out the theater spectacle Made in France with him at the Théâtre de Paris . It wasn't until 1993 that she made a small musical comeback with the single Le Nougat . Above all, she benefited from the fact that a younger generation of musicians became aware of her work and brought her into contact with New Wave and Electronica . This was shown on the 1995 album Genre Humain , which u. a. co-produced by Étienne Daho , and for which she received her second Grands Prix du disque de la Chanson Française and the Grand Prix national de la Chanson in 1996.

Brigitte Fontaine (2009)

Her name has now also become better known in the Anglo-Saxon region - mainly thanks to references from prominent alternative bands such as Sonic Youth , with whom she recorded two songs on her album Kékéland (2001). Kékéland , like the subsequent album Rue Saint Louis en l'île (2004), was gilded and marked Fontaine’s commercial breakthrough. Since then she has completed numerous successful concerts and tours and has participated in various music and theater projects. In October 2006, Fontaine was part of an ensemble with Jarvis Cocker , Badly Drawn Boy and other artists that brought a theatrical version of Serge Gainsbourg's concept album Histoire de Melody Nelson to the stage in the Barbican Center in London .

Her album Prohibition (2009) contains collaborations a. a. with Grace Jones and Philippe Katerine , and also on L'un n'empêche pas l'autre (2011) she worked with numerous other musicians (including Arno , Areski Belkacem , Alain Souchon , Christophe , Bertrand Cantat , Richard Galliano , Jacques Higelin , Grace Jones and Emmanuelle Seigner ).

In 2014 Fontaine was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her artistic work .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
FR FR MOVE BE W CH CH
2001 Kékéland FR10 (26 weeks)
FR 		BE W49 (1 week)
BE W 		-
with, among others, Areski Belkacem, Sonic Youth , Noir Désir , Georges Moustaki , Ginger Ale , Archie Shepp
2004 Rue Saint Louis en l'île FR18 (11 weeks)
FR 		BE W44 (3 weeks)
BE W 		CH88 (1 week)
CH
with, among others, Areski Belkacem, Gotan Project , Zebda
2006 libido FR59 (9 weeks)
FR 		- -
with Areski Belkacem and Jean-Claude Vannier
2009 prohibition FR22 (13 weeks)
FR 		BE W90 (1 week)
BE W 		-
with Areski Belkacem and Ivor Guest
2011 L'un n'empêche pas l'autre FR38 (5 weeks)
FR 		BE W57 (3 weeks)
BE W 		-
with Areski Belkacem and Ivor Guest
2013 J'ai l'honneur d'être FR32 (6 weeks)
FR 		BE W143 (4 weeks)
BE W 		-
with Areski Belkacem and Jean-Claude Vannier
2020 Terre neuve FR44 (4 weeks)
FR 		BE W76 (1 week)
BE W 		-

More albums

  • 1965: 12 chansons d'avant le déluge (with Jacques Higelin )
  • 1966: 15 chansons d'avant le déluge (with Jacques Higelin )
  • 1968: Brigitte Fontaine est ... folle! (with Jean-Claude Vannier )
  • 1969: Comme à la radio (with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Areski Belkacem )
  • 1972: Brigitte Fontaine (with Areski Belkacem)
  • 1973: Je ne connais pas cet homme (with Areski Belkacem)
  • 1974: L'Incendie (with Areski Belkacem)
  • 1975: Le Bonheur (with Areski Belkacem)
  • 1977: Vous et nous (with Areski Belkacem)
  • 1979: Les églantines sont peut-être formidables (with Areski Belkacem)
  • 1988: French corazon (with Areski Belkacem)
  • 1995: Genre humain (with Areski Belkacem and Etienne Daho )
  • 1997: Les palaces (with Areski Belkacem and Alain Bashung )

Compilations

  • 1999: Morceaux de choix

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
FR FR
2001 Y'a des zazous
 FR50 (13 weeks)
FR
with M
2003 L'hymne à l'amour
 FR50 (12 weeks)
FR
with Aznavour, Boulay, Eicher, Biolay, Macias, Maurane, Foly, Mami, Leroy, Pagny & Badi

bibliography

Filmography

Honors

  • 1970 Grand Prix du disque de la Chanson Française of the Académie Charles-Cros for Comme à la radio
  • 1996 Grand Prix du disque de la Chanson Française of the Académie Charles-Cros for Les Palaces
  • 1996 Grand Prix National de la Chanson française from the Ministry of Culture and Communication
  • 2001 Honorary Prize from the Académie Charles-Cros for her complete work
  • 2010 Grand Prix de l'Humour noir for Prohibition
  • 2011 Honorary Prize from the Chambre Syndicale De l'Edition Musicale
  • 2012 Médaille Grand Vermeil de la Ville de Paris
  • 2014 Commandeur de l ' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Web links

Commons : Brigitte Fontaine  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Benoît Mouchart, Brigitte Fontaine - intérieur / extérieur . Editions du Panama 2006, ISBN 2-755-70067-X (French).

proof

  1. ↑ a b Brigitte Fontaine at: rfimusique.com, accessed on August 22, 2015 (French, English ).
  2. ↑ Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres janvier 2014 at: culturecommunication.gouv.fr, accessed on August 22, 2015 (French).
  3. ↑ a b Chart sources: FR BEW CH
  4. ↑ The day will come on: imdb.com, accessed on August 22, 2015.
  5. ↑ Brigitte Fontaine ( memento of September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at: olympiahall.com, accessed on August 22, 2015 (French).
  6. ↑ a b Brigitte Fontaine… She is an Amazement… on: lettredeparis.com, accessed on August 22, 2015 (English).
  7. ↑ La CSDEM a remis ses prix de la création musicale on: irma.asso.fr, accessed on August 22, 2015 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Fontaine, Brigitte
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French singer, actress and writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Morlaix , Brittany, France