Madeleine Peyroux

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Madeleine Peyroux
Peyroux performing in 2008
Peyroux performing in 2008
Background information
Born (1974-04-19) April 19, 1974 (age 49)
Athens, Georgia, U.S.
GenresJazz, pop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1990s–present
LabelsAtlantic, Rounder, Decca
Websitemadeleinepeyroux.com

Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album Careless Love sold half a million copies.

Music career[edit]

A native of Athens, Georgia, Peyroux grew up in New York and California.[1][2] In interviews, she has called her parents "hippies" and "eccentric educators" who helped her pursue a career in music.[3] As a child, she listened to her father's old records and learned to play her mother's ukulele.[4]

When she was thirteen, Peyroux's parents divorced, and she moved with her mother to Paris. Two years later she began singing with street musicians in the Latin Quarter. She joined a vintage jazz group called the Riverboat Shufflers, then The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, with whom she toured Europe.[1][5]

Discovery and breakthrough[edit]

Peyroux was discovered by a talent agent from Atlantic Records, which released her debut album, Dreamland (1996). She recorded cover versions of songs from the 1930s and '40s (Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller) with a group of seasoned musicians: James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Leon Parker, Vernon Reid, and Marc Ribot.[1] A year later she covered the song "Life is Fine" for a Rainer Ptacek tribute album.[6]

In 2004 she released the EP Got You on My Mind with William Galison.[7] Her second full-length album, Careless Love, was released by Rounder Records and produced by Larry Klein. Careless Love was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after having sold half a million copies. It included songs by musicians such as Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, and Leonard Cohen.[8] Klein produced her next album, Half the Perfect World, which was recorded with Jesse Harris, k.d. lang, and Walter Becker.[2] Half the Perfect World reached No. 33 on the Billboard magazine Top 200 albums chart. Klein and Becker returned to work with Peyroux on her album Bare Bones (Rounder, 2009). She wrote all the songs on the album, co-writing some with Klein and Becker and Julian Coryell.[1][9] Two years later, Standing on the Rooftop was released by Decca Records, produced by Craig Street,[10] and recorded with Christopher Bruce, Charley Drayton, Meshell Ndegeocello, Marc Ribot,[11] Jenny Scheinman, and Allen Toussaint.[10]

Later career[edit]

In 2004, the release of Peyroux's planned second album was delayed because of her vocal problems.[12] These were attributed to over-use of her voice as a result of intensive touring.[13] After discovering a cyst on her vocal cords, she needed surgery, and attempted to recover by re-training her voice.[12] She stated that it took years to rebuild her voice, and she considered giving up singing.[13]

In 2006, she successfully released Half the Perfect World, and in the same year performed a live session at Abbey Road Studios, UK, which was released on the album Live from Abbey Road.[14] During the next year she won Best International Jazz Artist at the BBC Jazz Awards.[15]

Reception[edit]

In 2013 a New York Times music writer compared her vocal style to that of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Edith Piaf.[16] Her song "A Prayer" appeared in the television show Deadwood (2005), and her version of "J'ai deux amours" was included in the film Diplomacy (2014).[17]

Discography[edit]

Solo[edit]

Albums and details Peak positions Certifications
AUS
[18] 		AUT BEL
(Fl) 		BEL
(Wa) 		FRA
[19] 		GER NED NZ SPA SWI UK US
Dreamland
  • Date released: 1996
  • Record label: Atlantic
 — — — — — — — — — — — —
Careless Love
  • Date released: 2004
  • Record label: Rounder
 26 — 54 33 28 — 18 — 91 — 7 71
Half the Perfect World
  • Date released: 2006
  • Record label: Rounder
 26 42 41 31 15 55 19 25 38 41 12 33
Bare Bones
  • Date released: 2009
  • Record label: Rounder
 64 42 49 40 18 75 33 28 39 46 12 71
Standing on the Rooftop — 43 77 75 61 64 81 35 22 57 56 —
The Blue Room
  • Date released: 2013
  • Record label: EmArcy/Decca
 — 54 42 50 28 65 67 — 31 82 43 62
Keep Me in Your Heart for a While: Best of Madeleine Peyroux
  • Date released: 2014
  • Record label: Rounder
 — — — — 115 — — — — — — —
Secular Hymns
  • Date released: 2016
  • Record label: Verve
 — — 137 53 53
[21] 		93 — — 70 64 96 —
Anthem[22]
  • Released: 2018
  • Label: Pennywell, Decca
 — — — — — 88 — — — — — —

Collaborations and guest appearances[edit]

With William Galison

With The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band

  • Spreading Rhythm Around

With The Sachal Ensemble

  • Song of Lahore (Universal, 2016)[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Collar, Matt. "Madeleine Peyroux". AllMusic. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  2. ^ a b [1] Archived February 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Madeleine Peyroux strips down to the Bare Bones | The Courier-Mail". News.com.au. March 7, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  4. ^ [2] Archived November 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Musician Madeleine Peyroux (Vocal) @ All About Jazz". Allaboutjazz.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  6. ^ Swartz, Mark (January 2003). "Madeleine Peyroux". Furious.com. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  7. ^ "Got You on My Mind". AllMusic. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  8. ^ "Gold & Platinum - RIAA". RIAA. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  9. ^ "Peyroux Goes 'Bare' On New Album". Billboard. September 14, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  10. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "Standing on the Rooftop". AllMusic. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  11. ^ "Shore Fire Media Press Release". Shorefire.com. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  12. ^ a b Gaby Wood (July 9, 2006). "That's why the lady sings the blues". The Guardian. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "How Madeleine Peyroux's hit vocal career started on the streets". The Smith Center. April 13, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  14. ^ [3] Archived October 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ [4] Archived November 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Haller, Val (March 20, 2013). "If You Like Billie Holiday, Try Madeleine Peyroux". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  17. ^ "Berlin Film Review: 'Diplomacy'". Variety. 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  18. ^ Peaks in Australia:
    • All except noted: "Discography Madeleine Peyroux". australian-charts.com. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
    • Bare Bones: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 217.
  19. ^ "Madeleine Peyroux discography". Lescharts/com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  20. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2005 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  21. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 38, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. June 10, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  22. ^ "Anthem by Madeleine Peyroux on iTunes". iTunes Store (CA). August 31, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  23. ^ Piccalo, Gina (November 5, 2015). "Pakistan's Sachal Jazz Ensemble rises above the risks in 'Song of Lahore'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 2, 2018.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Madeleine Peyroux.
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