Sacha Distel; Symbol of the French Romantic Whose Suave Looks and Crooning Style Made Him an International Star
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Summary
Sacha Distel was that rare beast: a jazz musician who made it in the pop and showbiz worlds, without appearing to have sold out. A respected guitarist, he was at heart a jazz man, but his suave good looks and crooner style of singing made him a popular enter- tainer both at home in France and internationally. Until very recently, he was still juggling the two sides of his musical life: last year illness forced him to pull out of the Scottish Guitar Festival in Ayrshire, just before the release of a new double album on which he was to be found singing duets with such illustrious old pals as Liza Minnelli and Dionne Warwick. His death comes not long after his rediscovery by a younger generation who associated him with appearances on cheesy entertainment shows of the 1970s.
Distel was the son of a Ukrainian father who fled the Red Army in 1917, and travelled to France by foot. There, he eventually set up an electrical goods shop. Distel's mother was Jewish, and was interred for 19 months during the Second World War - an event from which, the singer later said, the family never recovered. It was she who instilled in Distel a love of music, and the young Sacha studied piano from the age of five.See the full content of this document
Extract
Sacha Distel; Symbol of the French Romantic Whose Suave Looks and Crooning Style Made Him an International Star
Distel's introduction to the music business was as a 16-year-old working in the music publishing company run by his uncle, Ray Ventura, who led a...
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