Henri Salvador

Henri Salvador enjoyed one of the longest careers of any French cabaret artist, debuting professionally in the mid-'30s and recording -- with satisfying results -- all the way into the new millennium. For much of his career, Salvador was known for his jazzy guitar work, his comic talents, and novelty songs, and a distinct Brazilian influence in his brand of chanson. A star in France since the end of World War II, Salvador shifted into children's music for much of the '70s before reclaiming his old audience. He reinvented himself again with 2000's Chambre de Vue, a gentle, nostalgic collection of love songs that, thanks in part to the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon, was reissued in America by the legendary jazz label Blue Note. Salvador was born on July 18, 1917, in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father came from Spanish stock and his mother was descended from Caribbean natives, and both had been born on the island of Guadeloupe. The family moved to Paris when Salvador was seven, and at age 11, he discovered American jazz via Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. He started playing the guitar, influenced primarily by the great gypsy jazzman Django Reinhardt, and at age 16 landed his first professional gig with Paul Raiss' orchestra. In 1935, he began performing with a jazz quartet at Jimmy's Bar, a popular cabaret. In addition to establishing his talents as a comedian, this exposure led to a gig with American violinist Eddy South in 1936, and also a meeting with his idol Django Reinhardt, for whom he served as accompanist for a brief period. Salvador's promising career was interrupted by World War II; he enlisted in the military in 1937 and served for four years. He quickly found work with Bernard Hilda's Cannes-based jazz orchestra, and from there was hired by orchestra...