Serge Rezvani

Author, composer and performer of Iranian origin, Serge Rezvani was born in Teheran on March 23, 1928, and arrived in France at the age of one. He grew up with his mother in a Russian environment, then escaped from a boarding school to become a painter in the Montparnasse district, writing a collection of poems with Paul Éluard. Married to Évelyne Lanzmann (sister of Claude and Jacques Lanzmann), then to Danièle Adenot, known as "Lula", he frequented Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where he became acquainted with François Truffaut and composed "Le Tourbillon", under the name Cyrus Bassiak, the theme for the film Jules et Jim (1962), starring Jeanne Moreau. He went on to write twelve songs for the singer's album, awarded the Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros in 1964. In addition to his prolific activity as a writer, novelist and playwright, Serge Rezvani also composed the music for Jacques Baratier's film Dragées au poivre (1963) and two songs for Anna Karina in Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965), "Jamais je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerai toujours" and "Ma ligne de chance", and a second album for Jeanne Moreau with guitarist Elec Bacsik (1966). In 1968, British actress Vanessa Redgrave adapted ten of his songs for her album Red and Blue, intended for Tony Richardson's unfinished film. He also composed or wrote for Jean Arnulf (1976), Mona Heftre (2000), Helena Noguerra ( Fraise Vanille album, 2007) and Z'Elles(Je Te Plumtoterai, 2012). He embarked on a performing career with the album Notre Folle Jeunesse, recorded in 1978 and released in 1994, on which he accompanies himself on guitar, followed by a six-volume set of his songs: Les Grains de Beauté (2004), Vivre Étonné (2004), Saint-Tropez à l'Envers (2005), Paris Tu M'Rends Dingue (2006), J'Avais un Ami (2007) and À Monaco (2008), in which he covers some of his own compositions. In 2023, the album Chansons pour Lula, on which he took part, paid tribute to him with performances by Dominique A, Philippe Katerine, Cali, Vincent Dedienne and Léopoldine HH.

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