[dj]

I'm just going into rehearsal for my company's April production of the musical Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris, which is built around the songs of the great Belgian composer Jacques Brel.

Although Jacques actually passed away in 1978, his music is very much alive. We are creating a whole new set of arrangements for the popular show for our production, bringing it from a very 60s sound (the musical debuted in 1968) into the 21st century.

Brel's songs influenced many musicians in many genres of music, from pop to rock to "art" and we are trying to reflect some of that in our new production.

As an example, here is a piece that shows how Brel was an underlying voice in "progressive rock". My Death has some very Pink Floyd elements, reinforced, I think, by this arrangement.

And, of course, the biggest thing about Brel is the depth of his lyrics, which cut to the core of a song every time.

Do, please look at this in Page mode, as it's very pretty.

David