To tell the truth, if jazz “His Majesty jazz”, let’s say it like Nougaro, is a world, then L’Estaminet d’Uzeste would be one of its most ardent capitals. In this forest village in the Gironde moors – less than 400 inhabitants – the multi-instrumentalist Bernard Lubat, who followed Claude Nougaro to the Olympia stage, built a “poetic and political” musical festival in 1978, a tribute permanent diversity of voices, music, inspirations. And to Nougaro. “He signified the beginning without…
To tell the truth, if jazz “His Majesty jazz”, let’s say it like Nougaro, is a world, then L’Estaminet d’Uzeste would be one of its most ardent capitals. In this forest village in the Gironde moors – less than 400 inhabitants – the multi-instrumentalist Bernard Lubat, who followed Claude Nougaro to the Olympia stage, built a “poetic and political” musical festival in 1978, a tribute permanent diversity of voices, music, inspirations. And to Nougaro. “It signified the beginning without end. He is the poet who was not afraid to confront the uncertainty of jazz: improvisation is an anti-economic act in essence! Nougaro is a ”bifurcator”, he has imbued us with his poetic energy. »
Toulouse via Uzeste
If Nougaro the Parisian returned to his Toulouse origins, it was through Uzeste that he came, assures Lubat. “Paris was formidable. Occitanie was his source of inspiration. Here I had found freedom. He prowled around…” to pick up this freedom too. Nougaro spent his young years at Place des Ternes in Paris. He lived in Montmartre for a long time. He was very attached to the capital, as shown in his songs “Montparis” or “Paris-Mai”. It was only at the end of the 1980s that he bought a loft on the banks of the Garonne.
With Bernard Lubat at the Uzeste Musical festival in 1990.
Archives René DESTHOMAS/SO
For biographer Alain Wodrascka, who knew him since 1993, Nougaro associated Toulouse with suffering, with “his intimate orphanage”. He had spent his childhood with his grandparents, waiting for his mother and father, first baritone of the Paris opera, to return from tour. “I lived like Cocteau or anyone else, but in an extremely shabby environment,” he said. He tuned into the kitchen radio blaring the voices of Armstrong and Bessie Smith.
“Regionalization”
The anthem to Toulouse is “a misunderstanding”, according to his biographer who is amused to hear him sing “How far away is my country!” » while “Nougaro never really lived there!” » This “accidental” song is “a masterpiece written and composed for a performer other than him. She was not in his jazz world. It was like a tribute to his parents, while the ”ville rosse” reminded him more of a Toulouse blues. » Blame it on Odette (his second wife NLDR), who told him: “When you make a song about your hometown, you make a love song. »
“I remember him as the adventurous poet that we saw born when we were in a musical fight”
In front of the Garonne “which resonates very close to my heart”, in Toulouse.
Archives Kipa
A regionalization of the “Toulouse singer”, which was “a poisoned gift”, according to his biographer: “After the death of Nougaro, his last companion, Hélène, contacted Arte to propose a documentary. ”What, this singer from Toulouse?”, he was told. After this response, as stupid as it was explicit, she no longer wanted to worry about her posthumous career. » What follows would explain his disappearance from the French pantheon. “We have obscured the depth of spirit, the richness of his writing, retaining only the swagger, the play on words and the Toulouse singer. Jane Birkin did a lot for Gainsbourg. France Gall for Michel Berger. The daughter of Jacques Brel and the son of Léo Ferré maintained their father’s posthumous career in a very regular and convincing manner. »
The tube factory
Lubat readily compares him to Ferré or Brel, with the difference that Nougaro was recovered, according to him, when he was no longer able to fight. Bernard Lubat remembers the last concerts with “giant lighting and noisy arrangements” which were unlike him. “It was already frozen. The recording industry makes solid stuff. This is not what will remain of Nougaro. I remember him as the adventurous poet that we saw born when we were in a musical battle. But, the “nurses” won. They squeezed out its potential. They colonized his old age. »
In Auch, in November 2001.
Archives Philippe Bataille/SO
Alain Wodrascka remembers that Hélène had more ambition for Nougaro than Claude had for himself. “Without her, he would have had a career like Michel Jonasz: a successful success, without selling any records. He managed to speak to a young audience. With ”Nougayork”, in 1988, he sold 500,000 copies. In 2000, ”Embarquement immediately” made 200,000 copies. »
A vision of success that makes Lubat smile. “For me, he wasn’t a guy to sell, he was a guy to live. I remember the man of letters, not the man of numbers. When he stopped selling records at Barclay, a 23-year-old guy fired him. He went to the United States to make ”Nouga-York” which required him to make hits. Afterwards, we are more interested in the tubes than in the “leg” they contain. »
2024-03-02 21:14:04
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