Bastille Day Anthems: Revolutionary Classics with Jazz and Reggae Revamps
Yesterday was Bastille Day, and as anthems go, the French one is pretty good
La Marseillaise is, of course, the national anthem of France. It’s often described as having “revolutionary fervor” but it was written in the middle of the French Revolution and just before the Reign of Terror. It was likely to be a little charged.
My favorite version has to be Django Reinhardt's "Echoes of France," released in 1947.
Jean Reinhardt, better known by his Romani nickname Django, was a Belgian Manouche or Sinti jazz guitarist and composer born on January 23, 1910, and passed away on May 16, 1953. As a pioneering jazz talent in Europe, Reinhardt, along with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934, one of the first groups to feature the guitar as a lead instrument.
Django’s style had been called jazz tsigane in French, or "gypsy jazz" in English for many years and is now referred to more accurately and less offensively as Jazz Manouche. Reinhardt recorded American musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter and toured the United States briefly with Duke Ellington in 1946. He’s got a deep catalogue worth exploring and is considered one of the most influential European guitarists of all time.
Serge Gainsbourg “Aux armes, et caetera,” 1979
While Reinhardt’s version was heartfelt and well-received, Serge Gainsbourg managed to provoke outrage among many French citizens in 1979 when he re-wrote the French National Anthem in a reggae style, titling it “Aux armes, et cetera” (“to arms, etc.” in English).
I can appreciate it technically, but I don’t think this is really his best work. The album was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica in less than a week. Gainsbourg collaborated with several Jamaican musicians, including Sticky Thompson, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare (Sly & Robbie), and Bob Marley's choristers, the I Threes.
The album, also titled “Aux armes et caetera,” was released in April 1979 this is how reggae music made its first appearance in France.
The reggae take on the national anthem sparked intense backlash, including death threats from individuals and nationalist groups, as well as soldiers who vowed to silence him if he performed it publicly. This tension culminated in a 1980 concert in Strasbourg, where there was a bomb threat at Gainsbourg’s hotel and then legionaries in the front row interrupted the show, prompting Gainsbourg to sing the original national anthem a capella, joined by the audience and the legionaries.
