Gilles Elbaz

Born in Castres (Tarn) on June 14, 1946, Gilles El Baz dit Nouchy is better known as Gilles Elbaz. Growing up in Paris, he sang in a choir and learned to play guitar, before discovering jazz when his family moved to the Évreux region, where his father ran a molding factory. He composed his first songs and performed in cabaret at La Cour des Miracles in Bordeaux. He found a distributor in the folk-oriented Disques Alvarès label, which released his first album, Gilles Elbaz (1970), featuring musicians Claude Engel (guitars), Teddy Lasry (organ, flute, piano), Francis Moze (electric bass) and Claude Vander (drums). In June 1970, he was awarded the Prix Fine fleur de la chanson française at the Théâtre Bobino in Paris. The singer's poetic talent was then revealed in the company of Siegfried Kessler, a multi-instrumentalist and arranger with whom he began a loyal collaboration. Released in 1972, Gilles Elbaz Chante et Siegfried Kessler l'Accompagne was followed by Le Vent aux Ailes (1974) and Les Mots Sont de la Musique (1976) for the same label, then Paradis Terrestre ou la Condamnation de Eve... (1979), always between folk and jazz. Gilles Elbaz set up song workshops in Paris in 1983, was appointed director of the Centre régional de la chanson in Rennes, and moved to Lorient in 1991, where he initiated the Rendez-Vous Chansons. He did not abandon his songwriting activities, however, producing the albums Le Reflet dans la Vitre (1984) and Rue des Envierges (1988), followed by the traditional collection Ici - Ballades, Sonnets, Sonnailles et Autre Villanelles... (1996). These albums were joined by the compilation Dix Ans de Chansons, released in 1985. Aged 63, Gilles Elbaz died in Lorient on July 18, 2009.

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