Nirvana Bleu

Nirvana Bleu
Studio album by Daniel Lavoie
Publication (s)	1979
Label (s)	Apex ( MCA Canada )
Format (s)	LP, AC
Genre (s)	Chanson - Jazz - Crossover
Title (number)	10
running time	39:19
occupation	see running text
production	Rehjan Rancourt
Studio (s)	Studio Six, Montréal
chronology Berceuse Pour un Lion 1974 Nirvana Bleu Aigre-doux, How Are You? 1981

Nirvana Bleu is the third long-playing record by the French-Canadian singer, songwriter and pianist Daniel Lavoie . It was released in 1979 as a vinyl LP and audio cassette with a total playing time of 39:19 minutes on Apex , a label of MCA Canada ; re-releases on CD came in 1999 with EMI France and 2006 with GSI Musique ; while the title compilation from 1979 was not extended by bonus tracks . The French-language album, which Lavoie had also recorded in English (Nirvana Blue) , not only earned him good reviews, but also made him known to a wider circle of music lovers beyond the Québec chanson scene for the first time and led to a three-week engagement in the Petit Montparnasse of Paris . Only his sixth LP Tension , which was released four and a half years later, would surpass the commercial success of Nirvana Bleu.

As a result of the record release, Daniel Lavoie was awarded the Félix for best male performer of the year in Canada in 1980. In the same year, the LP itself was also in the Félix selection as best album by a singers-songwriter and the song La Danse du Smatte in the category of best chanson.

Participating musicians

Track list

title	length
Angéline	4:58
La Danse du Smatte	3:47
Long long	4:14
Saint-Côme Express	2:51
Sans Importance	4:19
Mes Vacances d'Été	3:48
C'est Pas la Pluie	3:52
Allume la TV	3:31
Nirvana Bleu	5:02
Boule Qui Roule	2:57

Nirvana Bleu was produced by Rehjan Rancourt and the recordings were made in Studio Six in Montréal .

In addition to Daniel Lavoie, who is also responsible for the arrangements and the cover design, five musicians are involved in most of the recordings: Ben Low (g, harm, co-arranger), Claude Arseneault (b), André Lambert (sax, clar , b), Yves Lagacé (dr, perc) and Jimmy Tanaka (perc, bo, congas, rhodes). Lavoie also brought in other instrumentalists for individual tracks, namely Jeff Fisher (p, synth), Robert Stanley (g), Nick Ajoub (ob), Pierre Carpentier (pos), Charles Ellison (flh), Norman Dugas ( Minimoog ) and with André Proulx (v) a soloist of the Orchester symphonique de Montréal . Tia Blake also sings the refrain on Boule Qui Roule .

The songs

All compositions and texts of the ten titles are by Daniel Lavoie. The majority of the songs can be assigned to the “classic” chanson due to the often slightly worn-out melancholy look, the arrangements and the lyrics; In the middle section, however, they have mostly partly sung, partly purely instrumental - dominated by piano or wind instruments - stylistic “breaks” related to cool or modern jazz . La Danse du Smatte, on the other hand, is a fast-paced piece that is performed in a jazzy way throughout, while the purely instrumental Saint-Côme Express with its sounds of a railway whistle and a fiddle solo is in the tradition of Anglo-American country music .

In 1979 and 1980 several extracts from this LP appeared on single : La Danse du Smatte / Allume la TV , Mes Vacances d'Été / Saint-Côme Express and Boule Qui Roule / Sans Importance in Canada, La Danse du Smatte / C'est Pas la Pluie at Arabella in Europe. Of Boule Qui Roule have several other artists, including Claude Maurane and Paul Piché , later cover versions recorded.

With La Danse du Smatte and Boule Qui Roule , two tracks from this LP were included in the twelve-song compilation J'écoute la Radio , which was released in 2011 and "traces 40 years of Lavoie's career".

Web links

Nirvana Bleu at allmusic.com

Notes and evidence

1. ↑ see Daniel Lavoies website (there under "Biography")
2. ↑ see the French-language Wikipedia article on Félix 1980
3. ↑ see the discography on Lavoies website
4. ↑ so the characterization of the compilation (there under "Nouvelles") on the website of the artist