A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away, & I mean Seattle in the 1990s, the Husband owned his own grocery store/café- Plenty in the Madrona neighborhood. In the search for fun music to play on the sound system, we discovered Post Apocalyptic Bohemian favorite Jean Sablon.
Jean Saboln was openly gay, living with his partner, a US service man, for more than 4 decades, yet he was a matinee idol & the French housewife's pin-up of choice. He recorded in the 1920-1980s, & he topped bills in cabarets & concert halls in Paris, London & on Broadway. In the1960s- 1980s Saboln made highly rated TV specials in France & Britain. Gershwin & Cole Porter wrote songs for him. Sablon helped to popularize swing music in France by teaming up on several occasions with Stephane Grapelli & Django Reinhardt.
In 1937, Sablon made his first visit to the USA. He spent the war years here, singing on stage & on the radio he was featured on the CBS Hit Parade, where he was ranked higher than Sinatra. The microphone revolutionized the music industry, & Sablon pioneered the subtleties of it use.His voice was heard by 50 million listeners twice each week. Bing Crosby owned all of his records, & Sinatra compared himself to Sablon in interviews. Sablon spent some time living in Hollywood where his close friends included Cary Grant, & Marlène Dietrich.
Sablon toured 5 continents demonstrating his independence & inquisitiveness, the qualities led him to introduce many new musical genres to France: biguine, calypso & bossa nova.
After Chevalier & Piaf, he was the only French singer to have tremendous success in the USA. In France, his style was that of a chanteur de charme which the American term 'crooner' hardly does justice to, but he was known as "the French Bing Crosby".
Sablon was the very definition of a suave, stylish, seductive Parisian lover. He sang with a velvety voice, thrilling in its lower registers. light & lovely on his upper notes. Listening to him makes me dizzy & horny.
In 1981 he gave his 75th anniversary concert at the Lincoln Center in New York Sablon was beloved in Brazil & it was in Rio de Janeiro, in 1983, that he gave his farewell recital to a very emotional public in tears as he said goodbye: "I bow myself out . . ."
He died in France in 1994.
Jean Saboln was openly gay, living with his partner, a US service man, for more than 4 decades, yet he was a matinee idol & the French housewife's pin-up of choice. He recorded in the 1920-1980s, & he topped bills in cabarets & concert halls in Paris, London & on Broadway. In the1960s- 1980s Saboln made highly rated TV specials in France & Britain. Gershwin & Cole Porter wrote songs for him. Sablon helped to popularize swing music in France by teaming up on several occasions with Stephane Grapelli & Django Reinhardt.
In 1937, Sablon made his first visit to the USA. He spent the war years here, singing on stage & on the radio he was featured on the CBS Hit Parade, where he was ranked higher than Sinatra. The microphone revolutionized the music industry, & Sablon pioneered the subtleties of it use.His voice was heard by 50 million listeners twice each week. Bing Crosby owned all of his records, & Sinatra compared himself to Sablon in interviews. Sablon spent some time living in Hollywood where his close friends included Cary Grant, & Marlène Dietrich.
Sablon toured 5 continents demonstrating his independence & inquisitiveness, the qualities led him to introduce many new musical genres to France: biguine, calypso & bossa nova.
After Chevalier & Piaf, he was the only French singer to have tremendous success in the USA. In France, his style was that of a chanteur de charme which the American term 'crooner' hardly does justice to, but he was known as "the French Bing Crosby".
Sablon was the very definition of a suave, stylish, seductive Parisian lover. He sang with a velvety voice, thrilling in its lower registers. light & lovely on his upper notes. Listening to him makes me dizzy & horny.
In 1981 he gave his 75th anniversary concert at the Lincoln Center in New York Sablon was beloved in Brazil & it was in Rio de Janeiro, in 1983, that he gave his farewell recital to a very emotional public in tears as he said goodbye: "I bow myself out . . ."
He died in France in 1994.
