"The Winner Takes It All" By CARLA BRUNI

CARLA BRUNI: "Little French Songs"

Original released on CD Barclay 060253731615

(FRANCE 2013, April 1)

"Little French Songs" is Carla Bruni's first album since 2008's "Comme Si de Rien N'était", and her first outing as France's former first lady. Reception in the English-speaking press on the European side of the Atlantic has been middling at best, while in France the album has been greeted with more enthusiasm. The truth may lie somewhere in between for most, but for those with at least a working knowledge of the French chanson tradition, both in its formal sense and through its various revolutionary phases, they will find that most of this fits squarely inside it (though that knowledge is not necessary to enjoy the album). One can hear Bruni's love of artists from Georges Brassens and Charles Trénet to Pierre Barouh and Serge Gainsbourg in these simple yet elegant tunes. She wrote most of the album herself. Its economic production is driven by a nylon-string guitar in the forefront, adorned by some sparse brass here, a minimal harmonium or Wurlitzer there, a drum or percussion elsewhere. On "Mon Raymond," she celebrates her husband Nicolas Sarkozy while utterly - and comedically - humanizing him. By contrast, she wryly skewers his successor French President François Hollande ("Le Pingouin") as boring and without personality - indulging in sass befitting Brigitte Fontaine. 

Her breezy yet moving adaptation of Trénet's nugget "Dolce Francia" contains a spoken word introduction with Taofik Farah's guitar and Ballake Sissoko's kora atop a breezy violincello and shakers. She makes this classic her own. "Prière," a co-write between Bruni and Julien Clerc, channels Brassens' inspiration in her own idiosyncratic way. One can hear Barouh and Gainsbourg in the Caribbean-cum-samba rhythmic twist in "Chez Keith et Anita." It's a clever song about finding peace and quiet at the home of Keith Richards and former girlfriend Anita Pallenberg circa 1970 - Marianne Faithful is apparently also there, smelling of vanilla. Sissoko also appears on the lithe, beautiful "Liberté" near the set's end. This is not a political song - at least not in the usual sense. Here, as chanson meets the bohemian cafe, freedom is tender, bittersweet, and regarded through the gaze of memory. "Little French Songs" is exactly what it says it is. Bruni's songwriting is deceptive in its limpid simplicity, full of reverie, wit, and the directness of her breathy voice, which is well traveled but contains delight at its heart. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

CARLA BRUNI Au Théâtre du Trianon, Paris

"Enjoy The Silence" By CARLA BRUNI

"Miss You" By CARLA BRUNI

"The Winner Takes It All" By CARLA BRUNI

CARLA BRUNI Sings Some Standards

Original released on CD Verve 577 260-6

(EUROPE 2017, October 6)

As a singer and songwriter, Carla Bruni usually follows the labyrinthine tracks in French music established by artists such as Georges Brassens, Jane Birkin, and Pierre Barouh. Therefore, cutting a collection of standards from rock, pop, and jazz might seem out of character. The songs on "French Touch" are those Bruni sang and played on the guitar between the ages of nine and 29. The album was initiated by Grammy-winning producer, arranger (and then-head of Verve Records) David Foster. He was knocked out by a Bruni performance in Los Angeles and offered to produce an album. She is accompanied by her regular band and a slew of studio aces including drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist Dean Parks, and harmonica ace Mickey Raphael - who appears on a lovely, Caribbean-inspired version of "Crazy" that also features its composer, Willie Nelson in duet.

While these readings are intimate, they are imbued without nostalgia or artifice. Foster arranges these songs according to Bruni's particular needs as a singer: her breathy contralto, though always intimate and tender, is surprisingly expressive in the English language. She opens with a moody yet sparse read of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" as a poignant ballad with Cyril Barbessol's ghostly piano, minimal percussion, strings, and nylon-string and slide guitars. Bruni follows with reading of the Clash's "Jimmy Jazz," complete with fingerpops and Fats Waller-esque piano, muted trumpet, and clarinet derived from early-'30s jazz. The Rolling Stones' "Miss You" is viewed through the Barry White and Love Unlimited production aesthetic, with strings swirling atop the airy, funky disco backbeat, hand percussion, and nylon-string guitar. ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" is delivered sincerely, but its string-drenched chart is twee and forgettable. The reinvention of "Highway to Hell" as a slippery jazz-inflected blues is anything but, with its swinging horns, electric piano, and bumping bassline. The gorgeous cabaret-tinged reading of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" is imbued with a flawless balance of innocent longing and moody introspection. It's followed - with a nod and a wink given to her husband Nicolas Sarkozy's difficulties during his time as France's president - by a too-sweet "Stand by Your Man" that weds Cafe Saravah's nouveau chanson breeziness, upscale honky tonk, and smooth pop. Bruni closes the set with two gorgeous American pop standards: "Please Don't Kiss Me" is modeled directly on Rita Hayworth's version from the 1947 film "The Lady from Shanghai". It's juxtaposed with Johnny Mercer's "Moon River," rendered without any of the stylistic artifice of the great pop stylists. Bruni's version is modeled on Audrey Hepburn's singing of it in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" alone on a windowsill. Though buoyed by an elegant yet economic use of strings, it nonetheless recollects that iconic silver screen moment. The songs on "French Touch" are idiosyncratic and free of drama. But they are chock-full of tenderness; Bruni delivers them with keen insight into the lyric meanings these melodies convey. (Thom Jurek in AllMusic)

CARLA BRUNI Debut Album

Original released on CD Naive NV 43411

(FRANCE, November 2002)

Carla Bruni is an Italian supermodel and this is her first album. Like Milla Jovovich's debut, this caught everyone by surprise. It's a very good effort, far beyond what one would have expected. It's an acoustic and intimate album, and the songs are from her own harvest. She also plays guitar. The talented French guitarist Louis Bertignac produced the album. Although she's Italian, most of the album is sung in French with some Italian touches, like in "Le Ciel Dans une Chambre." The result is a kind and smooth album that mixes folk and chanson Française in equal parts. Although she's not breaking any new ground, the result is compelling. (Iván Adaime in AllMusic)