FROM GAINSBOURG TO LULU
From Gainsbourg To Lulu is the debut album by the talented Lulu Gainsbourg, who is also joined by the likes of Johnny Depp and Iggy Pop
"I needed to make this gift to my father before getting on with my own things," said Lulu Gainsbourg recently. The 25-year-old son of Serge Gainsbourg, a talented French pianist and performer, "officially" begins his career in music with an album entitled From Gainsbourg To Lulu, which is still in the preparation stage. "Officially" because it will be his first solo album after many years involved in music: at the age of four, he started playing the piano, at five, he made his first appearances on stage, at 15, he was recording in studios, at 16, he was acting in films and at 18, he began writing, arranging and participating in the production of albums recorded by friends and relatives. Lulu, his real name is Lucien Gainsbourg, appeared on "Ne Dis Rien" with his mother Bambou in 2001 and worked on IRM with his sister Charlotte in 2009.
A former student of the Paris Conservatoire and Berklee, Lulu had no qualms about making this tribute to his father. Backed by Universal France, which jealously guarded the entire production process, the artist invited some of the biggest names in music such as Marianne Faithfull, Iggy Pop, Shane MacGowan, Rufus Wainwright, Vanessa Paradis, Richard Bona and Angelo Debarre, and also big stars from the movies such as Johnny Depp, Scarlett Johansson and Melanie Thierry. Conspicuous by their absence are Bambou, Jane Birkin and Charlotte Gainsbourg, but as he told Les InRockuptibles, "it was a personal project and I didn't want family members on the record."
Lulu rewrote some classics of rock, chanson and the soundtracks of his father such as "Initials B.B." (performed by Iggy Pop), "Bonnie & Clyde" (Johansson), "Ne Dis Rien" (Thierry), "Ballade de Melody Nelson" (Paradis and Depp) and "Sous Le Soleil Exactement" (MacGowan), and also delves into his greatest weakness: jazz. With the help of Debarre and his gipsy group, he has reconstructed "Poinçonneur Des Lilas" in jazz manouche style, and with the help of Bona, he reworked "La Javanaise" with an Afro-Cuban rhythm. Both songs are currently on iTunes, on an instrumental preview album entitled Jazz EP.
Everything is going well, but time is running out because "I really want to release the album this year, twenty years after the death of my father." The release is scheduled for 14 November, after being presented at various concerts: 2 November at La Coopérative de Mai in Clermont Ferrand, the 8th at the Casino de Paris, the 10th at the Cirque Royal in Brussels and the 12th at the Rendez-vous Soniques in Saint-Lô. There is no turning back. Gainsbourg Year is set to end with the emergence of another great Gainsbourg.
