France’s new singing hope: Vocal jazz with edge, depth and that certain je ne sais quoi. Lou Tavano is the new vocal-jazz sensation in a Paris scene already filled with inspiring names. Her extraordinary talent soon became obvious: the ability to create a musical universe in which words carry just as much weight as notes. “I can’t make music without words,” she admits. She gives very special meaning to everything she sings, found in the resonance of her own personal history, but without limiting her lyrics to the autobiographical.
Alongside “interpretation role-models” like Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, Tavano invokes a wide range of personalities: Joni Mitchell “for the way she tells a story”, Tracy Chapman “especially for her flow and way of presenting lyrics”, or Jacques Brel, who “can expose exactly the part of something he wants seen.”
“For me there is no such thing as singing technique,” says Tavano, although she herself has no lack of it. “If the interpretation is right, the voice follows. It is an experience that never loses its fascination, when what you feel matches what you express.”
