Colette Magny

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Colette Magny
Magny in 1972
Magny in 1972
Background information
Born(1926-10-31)31 October 1926
Paris, France
Died12 June 1997(1997-06-12) (aged 70)
Villefranche-de-Rouergue, France
GenresBlues, jazz, chanson, protest songs, avant-garde music, spoken word
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active1958–1990s
LabelsCBS, Mouloudji, Le Chant du Monde

Colette Magny (31 October 1926 – 12 June 1997) was a French singer and songwriter. A charismatic performer who did not record until her thirties,[1] her work encompassed blues, jazz, protest songs, experimental music and spoken word recordings.

Life and career

Colette Magny performing in 1975

She was born in

blues standards in Paris clubs.[2] She made her first recordings in 1958, on an album by trumpeter and bandleader Gilles Thibaut, Des classiques du jazz.[1]

After appearing at the Contrescarpe

Surrealist-influenced composer André Almuró.[1]

Magny became increasingly supportive of political activism. Her song "Le mal du vivre" was banned by

metaphysical texts. During the events and riots of May 68, she actively supported students and workers at sit-ins and through benefit concerts. She wrote the song "Les militants" for the protesters, and later also issued a spoken word album, Magny 68/69.[1][2]

She produced three albums in the early 1970s – Feu et rythme (1970), which won the

Grand Prix du Disque from the Académie Charles Cros;[2] Répression (1972), which concerned censorship and was supportive of the Black Panther movement;[1] and Transit (1975), which she recorded with free jazz performers including saxophonist Maurice Merle. Her 1977 album Visage-Village was recorded with the rock group Dharma and accordionist Lino Leonardi.[3] According to writer Benoît Houzé, "throughout her experiments, Magny always kept an artistic generosity which clearly binds most of her songs, as 'avant-gardist' as they can be, to the tradition of French chanson populaire."[1]

Her 1979 album Je Veux Chaanter was recorded with, and included songs written by, children with mental disabilities in the Institut médico-pédagogique at Fontenoy-le-Château, and was performed partly with home-made instruments.[1] In 1980, she released two single-sided spoken word albums, one of poems by Antonin Artaud and the other of text by the Swiss artist Sylvie Duval. Magny moved to live near Aveyron in south-west France, and her recordings became more mellow in tone, her 1983 album Chansons pour Titine even including Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy".[1] Her final album, Kevork (1989), included a song in praise of the turkey, a bird which, once released from domestication, can revert to its wild state.[2]

Magny suffered from health problems including obesity and, in later years, a spinal disease that confined her to a bed or wheelchair. She died in 1997, aged 70.[2][3]

Biography

A biography by Sylvie Vadureau, Colette Magny, Citoyenne - Blues, was published in 2017.[2]

Discography

Albums

  • Frappe ton coeur (Le Chant du Monde, 1963)
  • Colette Magny (aka Les Tuileries, CBS, 1964)
  • "Avec" Poème (Disques Mouloudji, 1966)
  • Colette Magny (aka Vietnam 67, Le Chant du Monde, 1967)
  • Magny 68/69 (Taï-Ki, 1969)
  • Feu et Rythme (Le Chant du Monde, 1971)
  • Répression (Le Chant du Monde, 1972)
  • Transit (with Free Jazz Workshop), (Le Chant du Monde, 1975)
  • Chili - Un peuple crève... (with Maxime Le Forestier and Mara Jerez), (Le Chant du Monde, 1975)
  • Visage-Village (with Dharma and Lino Leonardi), (Le Chant du Monde, 1977)
  • Je Veux Chaanter (with Les Enfants de l'I.M.P. de Fontenoy-le-Château), (Le Chant du Monde, 1979)
  • Thanakan (single-sided album, Le Chant du Monde, 1981)
  • Cahier d'une tortue (single-sided album, Le Chant du Monde, 1981)
  • Chansons pour Titine (Le Chant du Monde, 1983)
  • Kevork (Colette Magny Promotion, 1989)
  • Inédits 91 (Colette Magny Promotion, 1991)

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-5275-0354-0
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Pierre Perrone, Obituary - Colette Magny, The Independent, 25 June 1997. Retrieved 12 December 2019
  3. ^ a b c Jason Birchmeier, Biography, Allmusic.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019

External links

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