Why this tune?
This week’s tune is part of a four-song collection of French tunes I recently recorded with Barbara Papendorp, which we released on September 28 as “Amuse-bouche” under Barbara’s band name “Barbara et les bon vivants.” Barbara introduced me to “Longue Maladie,” which was written and recorded by Michel Delpech, a French singer popular in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s a (very) sad and sentimental song, lamenting living without love as a “long malady, a long agony.” The images in the verses amplify the sad mood of the chorus. In the first verse, the lyrics speak of being “forgotten as a car / At the bottom of a ravine.”
We included a duet of this song alongside three quartet and quintet recordings, featuring Seth Kibel on flute on Sidney Bechet’s “Si Tu Vois Ma Mère” and “La Belle Dame Sans Regrets” by Sting. The EP opens with Henri Betti’s “C’est Si Bon,” a favorite in our live shows at Bistrot Lepic and other venues.
You can find the EP on your favorite streaming service and Bandcamp.
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
Check it out!
Michel Delpech
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 