The Tour de France is currently in its second of three weeks. I love watching this ultimate endurance event every year. The terror and excitement of watching a dozen sprinters, pushing and barging, trying to win a stage, racing in a sprint across a road that can only really accommodate the width of eight bikes. Or when some superhuman leaves 20 riders in his wake and takes off up a mountain in an extraordinary effort. At some stage every year while watching, I think of the fabulous French comedy-drama animation film, The Triplets of Belleville, directed by Sylvain Chomet.
If you’ve seen The Triplets, you’ll know the connection. If not, the basic plot is about a Madame Souza, who goes on the hunt for her grandson Champion, a fanatical cyclist and Tour de France rider, who is kidnapped during the Tour by the French mafia and taken across the Atlantic to the city of Belleville. She is accompanied on her hunt by the singing and dancing Triplets and Champion’s faithful dog Bruno. It’s a fabulous, funny film, with scant dialogue and a lot of music – and it’s well worth 90 minutes of anyone’s time. Of course there’s also a song on the soundtrack called Tour de France and that, somehow, is why I remember this album and film every year at this time.
Going ‘gypsy swing’ with Belleville Rendez-Vous
The film soundtrack is a varied genre collection and a lot of fun too, composed by Ben Charest. For today I’ve picked Belleville Rendez-Vous, a track best described as “gypsy swing” or “jazz Manouche”, the form substantially developed by guitarist Django Reinhardt. It features the conventions of rapid acoustic arpeggios and chromatics and the rhythmic right hands of Charest and Matthieu Chedid. It’s primarily two acoustic guitars, with vocals, bass and drums, all helping to propel the song’s adventure. The “root” structure and melody recurs on other tracks too, in different forms – a calypso setting, cabaret and so on – and makes the entire album an easy and relaxing listen. And if you want the English version of today’s song, it closes the album out.
Good weekend and hey… watch the movie!
Listen to Belleville Rendez-Vous on Spotify here and on Apple Music here.
I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on markgrosin@gmail.com.
For more of Mark’s excellent picks, go here.
Top image collage: Rawpixel; Currency.
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