One recent evening, three very different musical acts took to the stage of the Regattabar in Cambridge. The first, a jazz trio led by pianist Pierre Hurel, performed original works and interpretations of jazz standards. The second was chanteuse Françoise Kucheida, whose renditions of classic French songs are in the cabaret tradition. The third was guest performer Pierre Barouh, who produced Kucheida's first award-winning record in 1996 (when she was 52 years old). He is perhaps best known to American audiences as the author of the songs from the popular 1960s French film, "Un Homme et une Femme" (A Man and a Woman). He performed his well-known "La Samba Saravah."
This was just one of the 16 musical events of L'Air du Temps, a festival of music from the French-speaking world brought to the Boston area by Modern Languages Prof. Brian Thompson - - festival founder, executive producer, manager, sound and light technician, master of ceremonies, and roadie.
Since 1993, Thompson's festival has been bringing a wide variety of French and French-influenced musical artists to the Boston area. Besides venues such as the Regattabar, The French Library, and the Wilbur Theater, this year Thompson arranged for six schools to host concerts, reaching more than 2,000 students in the process. Thompson had just completed a CD of L'Air du Temps artists, which he distributes to the press and to teachers as a learning aid for teaching French to their students.
Overall, Thompson was pleased with the turnout for the concerts, although the eight-day festival always leaves him in need of a good rest. "Each year, I ask myself if I am going to do this again - - but the music is so good, and it deserves to be heard, so that will probably win out next year over other things that I could do with my time," Thompson says.