some more french great guitar players from abroad

September 10, 2007 2:35 AM

Some more great french guitar players. Nelson Veras first came to France to meet Pat Metheny (he was 14 then, it has been documented on video by Frank Cassenti) but upon meeting some other jazzmen , he decided to stay in France and to experiment in various settings. Robert Crumb isn't exactly a "great french guitar player", but his decision to move to France (his or his wife's decision) and later his responsability in the creation of Les Primitifs du Futur has played a part in the rebirth of ancient french styles ("musette") and the renewed interest in old jazz and blues forms.

More significantly, some guitar players coming from (or whose families came from) the former french colonies include in their playing distinctive sounds from their own culture. Pierre Bensusan is well known for his use of the Dadgad tuning but echoes of his native Algeria can be heard in his music. Also from North Africa, Mamdouh Bahri, Tunisian, settled in southern France and plays some kind of oriental jazz guitar.
Nguyen Le, From a vietnamese family, is a post-hendrix guitar player who has increasingly incorporated exotic sounds in his playing, and is currently backing a vietnamese singer, among many other projects.

posted by nicolin (9 comments total)

Thanks for this.
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:49 AM on September 10, 2007

Thanks for the link to the French tele archives. I spent too many minutes on random searches. Good stuff. The french guitarists? Not my cuppa, but diff'rent strokes as Arnold would say.
posted by beelzbubba at 5:09 AM on September 10, 2007

I like Bensusan a lot. Thanks.
There's a guy from around here (northern VT) who goes over to Paris and plays with Django-style guitarists like Ninine Garcia.(In-line Realplayer)
posted by MtDewd at 6:18 AM on September 10, 2007

Great post nicolin. Can anobody point me to any Mamdouh Bahri CD's? Amazon.fr shows only one that's unavailable.
posted by doctor_negative at 7:35 AM on September 10, 2007

I love this music and I love Robert Crumb, but I sure didn't love that banjo solo Crumb took on that tune at Les Primitifs du Futur myspace page.
posted by wsg at 8:43 AM on September 10, 2007

I found it. It's on his website under Boutik.
posted by doctor_negative at 9:53 AM on September 10, 2007

yes, and there are two real cheap second-hand older ones here (can't put a direct link, you have to type a query in) but I don't know what the shipping fee will be for the states.
posted by nicolin at 12:43 PM on September 10, 2007

As a follow up, the CD is excellent.
posted by doctor_negative at 11:51 PM on October 1, 2007

Just a dream, the film about nelson veras and pat metheny (also a film about Pat Metheny's question and answer trio live) is online on the french Ina website. Excerpt is free (entire footage is 2 Euros for 24h or 6 Euros for unlimited download).
posted by nicolin at 8:18 AM on October 9, 2007