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It is a rare and exciting day when you hear a musician of the calibre of Eddie Palmieri in concert. One of the founding fathers of New York salsa and a great innovator in the Latin jazz of the 1970s, Palmieri brought his Afro-Carribean All-Stars to New Morning in Paris last Friday, and they blew the roof off.

Eddie Palmieri, Concert Pique-Nique, Reims France, 17.07.2010. Image: Eulsteph

Two hours of music stretched out over a pair of sets, suffused with humour and generosity. It was hard to suppress a giggle when Palmieri threw a quote from Salt Peanuts into one of his famously overblown solo passages. The grinning complicity between Palmieri and his bass player, Luques “Salsa” Curtis was evident throughout the gig.

Brian Lynch, Concert Pique-Nique, Reims France, 17.07.2010. Image: Eulsteph

The presence of trumpeter Brian Lynch in the touring band was a particular pleasure – an incredibly technically accomplished player, Lynch has been a regular collaborator with Palmieri since 1987, and directed the Grammy-winning album Simpàtico in 2006.

The music traversed Palmieri’s jazz catalogue (including tunes from Simpàtico and 1990′s Palmas) and included a steaming Latin version of Monk’s In Walked Bud, a nod to one of Palmieri’s own stylistic influences on the piano.

Palmieri apologised that the band wouldn’t be playing his salsa hits (Vamonos pa l’Monte, Cuidate Compay…), because of a lack of vocalists in the group. But with the energy on show last Friday, nobody went home disappointed. This is a gig I’ll remember for a long time.

J’ai découvert cette version de Ne Me Quitte Pas à la sauce cubaine il y a quelques semaines, pendant une soirée chez un camarade de classe. C’est vachement bien fait je trouve, et l’accent colombien de Yuri Buenaventura sonne beaucoup mieux à mes oreilles que les gémissements rosbifs de Sting (dont je vous épargne ici, mais qui se trouve sur YouTube si vous vous insistez.)

Ne Me Quitte Pas, sans doute l’oeuvre le plus connu de Jacques Brel, se trouve parmi les rares chansons françaises* qui ont su s’implanter dans l’esprit anglo-saxon (à côté de Je t’aime (moi non plus) de Gainsbourg et Je ne regrette rien de Piaf).

NMQP a été réinterprétée à plusieurs repris, notamment par Nina Simone. Par contre la performance originale de Brel s’appuyait beaucoup sur son goût théatral. Voici une version qui a passé à la télé dans les années 60 (avec les sout-tîtres en anglais):

*Ouias ouias je sais Brel, c’est un Belge comme Tintin.
**Yes yes, I know I wrote this in French. There’s a first time for everything.