Patricia Kaas, the sultry blond bombshell from the Moselle region of Eastern France, blasted onto the French music scene in the late 1980s with a series of Dietrich-esque chart-toppers like Mademoiselle Chante le Blues et Mon Mec à Moi, songs that still get plenty of French airtime.

Kaas’s latest album ‘Kaas Chante Piaf’ is a homage to Edith, but with a difference. Yes, there’s La Vie en Rose, Hymne à l’Amour and Milord… but Kaas made a conscious choice to showcase many of the lesser-known songs in the Piaf repertoire like C’est un Gars, co-written by Pierre Roche and Charles Aznavour.

The latest lap of her Franco-Belgian tour (through April 19) tour kicks off in Marseille on February 12, with a long-awaited 5-night stand at Paris’s historic Olympia (February 26 to March 3).

And Jacques Brel?

Here’s the surprise: Olivier Laurent, a young Belgian who lives in Chinon (Loire Valley), manages to incarnate Jacques Brel down to the last grimace, the last flick of the fingers and the last bar of Ne Me Quitte Pas. He’ll be opening the show.

At a preview in Paris at the Théâtre des Deux Anes, it was apparent that Laurent does more than imitate. Instead, he seems to be channeling Brel, and then effortlessly, with no costume change, he becomes Charles Trenet or Yves Montand singing Brel. Then–a tour de force–he breaks into a one-man quintet of Brel imitators laced with Johnny Hallyday howls.

It’s terrific. Not to be missed… if you’re lucky enough to get a seat.

© 2013, Corinne LaBalme

Corinne LaBalme, a Paris-based writer, journalist and editor, is currently working on development of a series life-style documentaries for Muses Productions.

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