The classic chanson, Siri Vik writes, the French ancient folksong-of-the-people, has always belonged to Paris…its cafés, its smoky cabarets, its carousels and crowded boulevards are its home and makeup. These powerful anthems, whether happy or sad, musical bones, poetry, and spirit, that proved uncontainable. These songs cross borders as well as time and space, to become part of the world’s imagination, and in part, found their way into the jazz canon. In Chanson Transatlantique we follow the great travelers of the French songbook. Josephine Baker’s exuberant "J’ai deux amours" and "Madiana"; "La Foule" brings to vivid life a town parade during Carnavale. Spun stories of love and fate that became universal. Charles Trenet ("La Mer") gave us the view from a train travelling near Marseilles. The tradition of French cabaret singing from "My Man" to "Cry from the Heart", one of Edith Piaf’s last. Some songs bring us back to a place and time—an era—a feeling. Some of the greats from the 1960s (Serge Gainsbourg and Leo Ferre) give us a taste of swinging Paris. To my mind, none is better than Jacques Brel, at conveying what "La vie" feels like from the inside. His songs are utterly French, yet universal. From his stark sketches of provincial life, to his turning carousels of Paris in springtime: "J’arrive", "La Valse à mille temps", "Ne Me Quitte Pas", "Vesoul".