THE LEFT BANKE- "AND SUDDENLY" The Left Banke モバイル

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier

パリ市内の「セーヌ川左岸」といわれる地域にあるピアノの修理工房と、そこに出入りするようになったアメリカ人の著者のお付き合いを描いた作品です。

「ピアノもの」といえば演奏家や作曲家がクローズアップされるものですが、この作品はそういったアーティストを描くのではなく、それを支えるピアノたちとピアノをこよなく愛する職人さん、著者を含むその周りの人々とのかかわりを描きます。ちょっと昔の「一見さんお断り」的なヨーロッパに足を踏み入れて戸惑うアメリカ人の著者を通した目が新鮮さ、温かさを等分に描いています。登場するピアノたちは現代のストロングなフルコンサート用のものではなく、ひと昔もふた昔もまえの瀟洒なものばかり。柔らかで軽やかな音色が聞こえてきそうです。日本からは見えそうで見えない、西洋音楽を支えるひとたちの愛情もあふれるごとく伝わってきます。

欲張りをいえば、タイトルは「パリ左岸」じゃなくて「セーヌ左岸」のほうがしっくりくるんじゃないかと…でも、仏語になじみのあるかたばかりが手に取るわけではないので、地名を入れた邦題になるのはいたしかたないことなのでしょう。よってこの件は不問としてこの評価とします。

THE LEFT BANKE- "AND SUDDENLY"

"The Left Banke has its origins in a classically trained violinist named Harry Lookofsky who ran a small recording studio in New York City. His son, Michael, a production assistant at the studio and a trained musician in his own right, sat in with some of the session players. Michael, who soon changed his name to Brown, made friends with bassist Tom Finn, drummer George Cameron, and singer Steve Martin Caro in 1965 and under his father's management, became The Left Banke. Michael Brown was only 16 when he wrote the group's signature tune, "Walk Away, Renee," a song penned to Tom Finn's then-girlfriend Renee Fladen. Reportedly, Brown was so smitten with Renee that he would physically become ill and couldn't play if she was in the room. "Pretty Ballerina" and "She May Call You Up Tonight" were also written about her. "Walk Away Renee" made it up to number 2 on the Top 40 charts by October 1966 (bested only by The Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville") and "Pretty Ballerina" reached as high as number 15 in early 1967. The group toured extensively to support the resultant album but soon after, Michael Brown did a very Brian Wilson-ish thing, deciding to stop touring and become a full-time studio musician. A replacement keyboard player (Emmett Lake) was hired and he hit the road with the band. But Brown's decision caused ill-will within the band and the rift soon became full-blown turmoil. And for a short time, in essence, there were actually two Left Banke groups, as Michael ...