Album Notes

Time accelerates as you get older. So it’s not surprising that the theme of Time runs through the songs on this CD, intertwined, of course, with the eternal theme of Love.

Michel worked with a number of musicians in making this album, two of whom he has never met. The title track is a duet with Amy Caldwell, whose angelic voice he heard on the internet. It was there too that he came across Alexis Van Eeckhout’s silky tenor sax, which is featured on a couple of tracks. Michel lives in France, Amy in Canada, and Alexis in Belgium. It would have been difficult for them to have got together in person, so they collaborated on the songs via the internet.

In the studio, Michel worked with the enormously talented Gérard Lamolère (accordion), Michel ‘Coco’ Correch (double bass) and Albert Casas (tenor sax), who all contributed hugely to the arrangements.

For this, his third album, Michel intersperses his own songs with tributes to those artists who have influenced him over the years – Leonard Cohen (‘Bird on the Wire’), Bob Dylan (‘One Too many Mornings’), Kris Kristofferson (‘Me & Bobby McGee’) and, of course, Sandy Denny, whose immortal classic gives the CD its title. In the course of recording the album, he also heard for the first time Bette Midler’s heartfelt rendering of Amanda McBloom’s ‘The Rose’, and was so struck with it that he decided to include that too on the CD.

His own songs are as rich as ever, both melodically and lyrically. The instrumentation is varied but never intrusive, from the pure electric blues of \'Perfumed Letter\' to the bouncy, evocative jazzy \'Dreams Like Bubbles\'. Some of the arrangements, indeed, are so spare that it’s like having Michel himself playing for you in your living room. Let his fine smoky voice transport you effortlessly away from the cares of the world ...

Here are Michel\'s own liner notes to each track:

One Way Conversations (Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Drums, Tenor Sax)

It was when she sent me back all my love-letters that I realised that our conversations had been strictly one-way! With the fabulous silky tenor-sax playing of Alexis Van Eeckhout.

Me & Bobby McGee (Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Drums)

One of my all-time favourite country songs. The treatment here is nearer to Kris Kristofferson\'s original version than Janis Joplin\'s rocker ...

You & I (Acoustic Guitars and Bass)

A love-song for those who can still feel that Love is an eternal in an ever-changing world.

Dreams Like Bubbles (Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Drums, Tenor Sax)

I was inspired to write this jazz piece by reading Don Marquis\'s comment : \'Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose-petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo\'. Dreams are like bubbles, blown over cobblestones. With Albert Casas\'s inventive tenor sax.

The Rose (Acoustic Guitars, Electric Lead Guitar, Bass, Drums)

Maybe it was because it was the day before Valentine\'s Day, but I heard Bette Midler\'s version of this on the radio as I was putting the album together, and was blown away by it. It seemed only natural to include it on an album which was themed on Love and the passage of Time.

Perfumed Letter Blues (Acoustic Guitars, Electric Lead Guitar, Bass, Drums)

When I was a kid, I was hooked on John Mayall, Eric Clapton and the original Blues men like Howlin\' Wolf and Muddy Waters. This is my tribute.

The Slipstream of Your Smile (Acoustic Guitars, Electric Lead Guitar, Double-bass, Drums, Tenor Sax)

A song to capture the magic of those moments when your lover holds you captive with her eyes. With Alexis Van Eekhout\'s silky sax and Michel \'Coco\' Correch\'s rhythmic double-bass.

One Too Many Mornings (Acoustic Guitars)

I often used to start my folk-club sets with this evocative, less well-known Dylan song.

Tree Trunks and Rough Stone (Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Drums, Accordion)

I love the simple honesty of old farm-houses, built of local rough-hewn stone and felled tree-trunks. I chose to live in one, and I imagine that I will die here. With Gérard Lamolère\'s mellifluous, haunting accordion.

Bird on the Wire (Acoustic Guitars)

One of my favourite Cohen songs, arranged for two guitars. I\'ve been playing this for so long, and yet it always moves me.

You Crack That Smile ! (Acoustic Guitars)

Isn\'t it amazing how a smile transforms a face ? Here\'s a little piece of jazz about that ...

Who Knows Where the Time Goes ? (Acoustic Guitars, Electric Lead Guitar, Bass, Drums)

The final song on the album is a duet with the delightful Amy \'Sugarbee\' Caldwell, whom I\'ve never met. (We collaborated on the song via the \'net). One of the finest songs ever written about the fragility of Love in the face of Time.