French Download

In 2002,much before French President Nicolas Sarkozy held her hand and traipsed through the Great Pyramids of Giza,Carla Bruni — just a supermodel then — tried her bit at composing for her debut album,Quelqu’un m’a dit (Someone told me). With her soft,acoustic songs,Bruni did not head for a record label,but went straight to her French musician friend Louis Bertignac for feedback. Finding the production quality below par,Bertignac decided to produce two tracks to better the overall sound. “But Carla liked the work on those two tracks so much that she asked me to produce the entire album,” says Bertignac,55,smiling to himself. The Bertignac-Bruni friendship did not end there. In 2005,she wrote the lyrics of his solo album Longtemps. You might just be able to listen to some Bruni lines — Bertignac,who is on a world tour with his band Live Power Trio,performs at F Bar & Lounge at the Hotel Ashok today.

Bertignac was in the country earlier in 1993 and he shows off his familiarity with Indian music. “I love the sitar and especially the bend of notes on the instrument. In fact,I’ve practised the trick on my guitar as well,” says Bertignac,whose music draws from English bands like The Beatles,The Rolling Stones and The Who. He is planning to throw in a few covers of these bands. “We are rock in terms of the influences we have gathered from the English bands but are very jazz in the way we improvise,” says Bertignac.

But there was music before Bruni. Bertignac has been a musician for over three decades and started his first band Telephone in 1976. It went on to become a leading group in the French rock circuit until he decided on a solo career in the 1990s. Currently,he is touring with the drummer Felic Sabal,with his signature Om locket dangling from his neck,and the blonde bassist Cyril Dennis.

Are he and Bruni planning to work again? “Given her responsibilities as First Lady,she has a lot of other work,” says Bertignac,who will be travelling to Nepal,Costa Rica,Canada and the US.

The trio will perform at 9.30 pm.

Contact Alliance Francaise at 43500200.