DEBBIE DE COUDREAUX: Have A Little Paris On Me

Debbie de Coudreaux

Have A Little Paris On Me

© 2002 DLL Productions, Inc. (783707677224)

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a variety of styles alternating between heart wrenching ballads, sultry blues and up-tempo comedy numbers with a French twist

tracks

1 Bonjour, Paris!
2 I Love April In Paris
3 Feathers
4 If You Leave Paris
5 Once Upon A Summertime
6 Lonely Paris Blues
7 Speaking French
8 La Chanson des Vieux Amants
9 Not Exactly Paris
10 The Last Time I Saw Paris, France
11 Le Temps
12 Have A Little Paris On Me

notes

Former Moulin Rouge star collaborates with 'Dream Team' to
create "Have a Little Paris on Me"

Debbie de Coudreaux, international singer and performer, has enjoyed a diverse career - headliner at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, Broadway star, model, spokesperson and now, recording artist. All these elements come together to help create her debut CD "Have A Little Paris on Me" which chronicles her experiences as an American in Paris, circa 1990. She is the only American, other than Josephine Baker, to have starred at the world famous Parisian cabaret; and her eight year run as 'vedette' is the revue's longest-surpassing Baker and the legendary Mistenguett. Ms. de Coudreaux also played leading roles in Tommy Tune's "Grand Hotel," both on Broadway and London's West End, and in Harold Prince's "Show Boat" on Broadway.

Ms. de Coudreaux showcases a variety of singing styles performing the twelve songs that retrace her life-changing experiences in Paris. Effortlessly alternating between heart wrenching ballads, sultry blues and up-tempo comedy numbers, she draws the listener in to her homage to France's cultural and entertainment capital.
"When I first started this project, I approached David Andrews Rogers, who had been my musical director and conductor for "Show Boat," Debbie explains. "He didn't laugh when I announced my rather ambitious idea for a CD project. Rather, he embraced it to the point that, as Musical Supervisor of the project, he became as consumed as I to find the right songs that would express perfectly all the things that I had been through during the eight years I lived in Paris." Debbie also had the good fortune to enlist the collaboration of legendary orchestrator Peter Matz, along with arrangers Shelly Markham, Paul Trueblood [who wrote her signature song "Feathers"] and dynamic jazz pianist, Daryl Kojak. "I wanted to have a wide variety of sounds and styles since I myself am a hybrid," notes Debbie. "And everyone's work came together like a dream... hence the moniker 'dream team.'"

Highlights of the set include the exuberant "Bonjour, Paris" from the film Funny Face and "Lonely Paris Blues," a sultry combination of Duke Ellington's "Paris Blues (from the film of the same name) and Harold Arlen's "Paris is a Lonely Town" (from the animated film Gay Pur-ee). She also includes French classics such as Michel Legrand's "Once Upon A Summertime" and Jacques Brel's "Song of Old Lovers," segueing easily between French and English lyrics yet never sacrificing the emotional integrity of the song.

In addition to de Coudreaux's skill as a singer, the musical accompaniment throughout the CD is outstanding. Whether a cleverly combined swinging arrangement of "I Love Paris" and "April in Paris," a show stopping 1950s flavored orchestration for "The Last Time I Saw Paris, France" or the quiet jazz treatment of the title track "Have A Little Paris On Me", de Coudreaux's voice is consistently presented in a sparkling setting that beautifully complements her distinctive sound.

"This is a dream come true for me," de Coudreaux explains. "I wanted to create a musical journey that would allow the listener to share in my Parisian experiences... those that have shaped me into the person I am today." With this CD, she invites her listeners to..."Have a Little Paris on Me!"

reviews

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  • What you get in this CD is a trilogy of absolutely magnificent musical arrangeme
    author: Muller-Anderson, Erica Soderholm and Margee Baker

    Debbie de Coudreaux, one of the world’s greatest true Cabaret artists, performers, singers, and personalities…a world-class star. Admired and recognized all over Europe as the only American Cabaret super star who rivaled and surpassed the legendary Josephine Baker right here in Paris!! This lady did it all: Writer, philosopher, dancer, thinker, poet, spokesperson, model, musicals and Broadway leading actress, headliner, first page shining celebrity and Cabaret super “artiste”. In France, she reigned as the queen of the legendary “Moulin Rouge”, and she did it wherever she went, wherever she performed and whatever she took part in. de Coudreaux’s “Have a Little Paris on Me” is absolutely different from all and any contemporary French Cabaret recordings. It is one hundred per cent Parisian, One hundred per cent pure musical. One hundred percent pure musical gold. Debbie de Coudreaux is clever. She is a visionary, for she knew that while preserving the originality and authenticity of the French ballads and the song of “Les Annees Folles de Paris”, the spirit and the charm of the cozy “Boites de Nuits” of old Paris, its poets, adventurers, gigolos, musicians, artists, troubadours, “canailles” and existentialists, she had to embrace the needs and changes of new treatments and tempos of modern music. Thus, she kept the original cache of the Parisian ballad and incorporated a New Orleans-1940 Blues up beat blended with sultry Louis Armstrong-Duke Ellington jazzy touch. And this added magic to the magic of her voice. You will tremendously enjoy her songs…beautiful songs like “Bonjour, Paris”, “I Love Paris” or “April in Paris”. What a delight! What a beauty! What a style! What you get in this CD is a trilogy of absolutely magnificent musical arrangements, superb orchestrations and sparkling voice.

  • Like the touch of rain...
    author: Mark M Ford

    Dear Debbie... Like the touch of rain she was On a man's face and hair and eyes When the joy of walking thus Has taken him by surprise. A superb performance by a lady of unequal class, poise and beauty...I loved her as Julie in "Showboat," and anxiously awaited this CD. I most assuredly was not disappointed.

  • "...she has the pizzazz.."
    author: David Finkle, Village Voice

    Because she spent eight years exhibiting her talents (singing talents, that is) at Paris' Moulin Rouge, she think's it's a nice idea to "Have a Little Paris on Me." Perhaps with this show, she'll help repair current French-American relations. She has the pizzazz to do so.

  • "...a valentine to a city she obviously adores..."
    author: Elizabeth Ahlfors, City Cabaret

    Debbie de Coudreaux’s valentine to a city she obviously adores, Have a Little Paris on Me, exudes a joie de vivre that won’t quit. Through songs, de Coudreaux tells the story of her love affair with Paris and she has the theatre chops to do it with élan and authority. Showcasing her stage background with chatty tunes like Speaking French and Feathers, de Coudreaux infuses her song lyrics with dramatic fire, unwrapping the romance, joy, humor and angst so identified with the City of Love. Notable is her pairing of Paris Blues and Paris Is a Lonely Town, plumbing the depths of loneliness, while Not Exactly Paris reveals most charmingly that even if it’s not exactly Paris, a special love affair has a similar intoxication. Le Temps is a lilting yet relentless drive to savor life, and the aching love song, La Chanson des Vieux Amants, brims with heartbreak. Using different collaborators for orchestrations and arrangements provides de Coudreaux with an intoxicating cocktail of old and new standards and theatre songs, all with the French twist. It’s a smooth and varied flow from start to finish, evidenced early with a quick shot of An American in Paris bubbling into the heady delight of Bonjour Paris! I Love Paris mixes and mingles with April in Paris, turning on a dime from nostalgia to swing, and back again, an intriguing arrangement by Shelly Markham. Have a Little Paris on Me by Francesca Blumenthal could have inspired the title of de Coudreaux’s CD. It’s an irresistible tune reflecting the seductiveness of this most beguiling of cities, and Debbie de Coudreaux’s debut CD is a sparkling way to pay a visit.

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