La Solitude: Album Launch Concert
Jessica Walker: writer and performer
Joseph Atkins: arrangements, piano and accordion
with special guests, the Solem Quartet
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Fresh from the launch of their new album La Solitude, celebrated singer Jessica Walker and composer/arranger Joseph Atkins present an evening of iconic French song and instrumental music. The programme pairs the songs of Barbara with Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens, with some in Jess's own English translations, with the impressionistic instrumental music of sisters Lili and Nadia Boulanger.
At its heart is a live performance of the new album La Solitude, in celebration of the work of Barbara — a singer-songwriter who worked closely with both Brel and Brassens and was deeply influenced by them.
Barbara (1930–1997) rivalled Brel for fame in her lifetime, yet her songs remain barely known outside France. Jess's new English translations bring her extraordinary lyrics — of personal loss, desire and tragedy — to an English-speaking audience for the first time, in sublime new arrangements by Joseph Atkins.
Jess and Joe are joined by the brilliant Solem Quartet, who also feature on the album.