Môrice Benin

Born Moïse Ben-Haïm in Casablanca on July 21, 1947, his name was changed to Maurice Gilbert Benaïm when his parents arrived in France after the Second World War. In 1969, the singer-songwriter began his musical career as Maurice Benin. While he liked to cultivate identities, the musician also played with words in the songs on his first albums Peut-Être (1972), Je Vis (1973), Il Faudrait Toujours Pénétrer les Gens (1974) and a new version of Peut-Être in 1975, in which a hint of ecological militancy mingles with biting irony. In 1976, he adopted the stage name Môrice Benin for subsequent albums, starting with C'Était in 1976 with the folk group Grattons Labeur, Tu Vois C'Que J'Veux Dire (1977) and Passage (1979). Although the circumflex accent disappeared fromApocalypse... (1980), his writing is not confined to these letter games, but develops a style that emancipates itself from the great songwriters to flourish in his own language. Appreciated by a wider public, he made his first appearance at the Olympia in 1982, then at the Printemps de Bourges, at the same time as he was celebrated by the critics. His jazz-tinged album Aimer Sans Issue (1983) was followed by a tribute to Breton poet René Guy Cadou, Chants de Solitude (1984, Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros), arranged by pianist Michel Goubin, who was to accompany him for seven years, during which time Morice Benin continued to renew himself, whether on Chemin d'Alliance (1985), Respirer (1987) or Essentiels (1991). Between numerous tours and recordings, Morice Benin received the Prix de la Sacem in 1990 for his body of work. Between 2005 and 2007, after having sung in Breton in Breizh Ardente and in Esperanto in In-Spir' (released in 2001), the series of eight albums Pour Prendre le Large was devoted to poetry, his own as well as that of Gibran, Eluard, Rilke, Delteil, Cadou, Rouzel and his colleague Jean Vasca. A prolific writer, Morice Benin continued to record and perform until his last self-financed album, Juste l'Heure (2020), followed by his death in Die (Drôme) on January 19, 2021, at the age of 73. In 2023, the 14-CD box set Je Chanterai Après Ma Mort will retrace his career.

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