Current Events - Maggie Gerrand Presents

Jane Birkin sings Serge Gainsbourg

Australian Tour March 2012

For more than a decade singer, actress, director and songwriter Jane Birkin was muse to the legendary French singer, songwriter and enfant terrible Serge Gainsbourg. Together they produced six albums and continued to collaborate professionally long after their relationship ended in 1980. In a powerful homage to her partner and mentor, the style icon and darling of the French avant-garde presents a special concert of Gainsbourg’s music to mark 20 years since his death.

“Jane Birkin: I’ve done Gainsbourg in every way! ‘Arabesque’ was maybe the most inventive and carried me and my Arabian orchestra round the world for five years. I didn’t think it possible to equal this, but with Nobu’s orchestrations and the four extraordinary musicians I’m bringing you the very best of what I’ve done. It was supposed to be just six USA concerts, it’s now a years commitment thanks to the success. I think Serge would be pleased that another composer ( Nobu) gave a year of his life to another composer ( Serge) france’s greatest..a fine proof of love…

In France, Gainsbourg is considered as Rimbaud Beaudelaire Appolinaire, the great writer of the last hundred years. In the US his ‘Melody Nelson’, is other composers inspiration. His work hasn’t dated a day, and Melody is considered as his masterpiece, he is the constant reference to any new French singers! Melody is understood now more than when it came out, he was always 20 years before his time. Beloved and missed, his grave is the most visited, the chagrin from teenagers to 80 year olds..is just incredible."

Dates

Performance schedule:

Sydney • Fri 16 March • City Recital Centre Angel Place
Bookings: 02 8256 2222; www.cityrecitalhall.com or Ticketmaster

Adelaide • Sat 17 March • Adelaide Festival • Barrio – Hajek Plaza
Bookings: BASS 131 246 or www.adelaidefestival.com.au

Melbourne • Sun 18 March • Melbourne Recital Centre
Bookings: 03 9699 3333; www.melbournerecital.com.au or Ticketmaster

Brisbane • Mon 19 March • Brisbane Powerhouse
Bookings: 07 3358 8600 or www.brisbanepowerhouse.org

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Further Information

“…the perfect symbol of innocence” Graham Greene

Jane Birkin is one of the world’s most iconic and celebrated women. The star of film and stage; singer, songwriter and darling of the French avant garde, Birkin tours Australia in March 2012, performing in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and at the Adelaide Festival.

For more than a decade Jane Birkin was muse to the legendary French singer, songwriter and enfant terrible Serge Gainsbourg.

Together they produced six albums and continued to collaborate professionally long after their relationship ended in 1980.

In a powerful homage to her partner and mentor, the style icon presents a special concert of Gainsbourg’s music to mark 20 years since his death.

Birkin will perform with a group comprising some of Japan’s finest musicians including pianist and composer Nobuyuki Nakajima, known for both his masterful piano and his work arranging ensembles; jazz-influenced drummer Tsuotmu Kurihara; violinist Asuka Maret; and brass player Shuishiro Sakaguchi.

An artist who has always combined her work with a powerful social conscious and humanitarian work, Birkin met and collaborated with these musicians when performing in Japan following the recent tsunami and humanitarian disaster, and was so inspired by the experience she decided to put together a world tour.

Jane Birkin first gained international attention with her brief but memorable nude scene in the 1960s cult classic, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup. But it was the release of her sensual, heavy breathing duet with Gainsbourg, Je t’aime Moi Non Plus, which scandalised the world and instantly catapulted her to international celebrity.

In her long career, Jane Birkin has starred in countless films, released dozens of recordings and since the late 1990s has performed her interpretations of Serge Gainsbourg’s repertoire to sell-out houses around the world.
www.janebirkin.net