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Alphonso et son orchestre typique antillais – Oye, mes z’amis… on 78 rpm record
This track called “Oye, mes z’amis…” is a samba performed by Louis-Jean Alphonse, aka Aljean and Alphonso, and his orchestra. I didn’t find a lot of information about this musician, who was born in...
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Watanabe Hamako – Shina No Yoru (China night / She Ain’t Got No Yoyo) on 78...
I listen to this record quite often, but I only discovered recently that this song called Shina No Yoru (支那の夜, which means “China night”) had a special and controversial story. It was actually not so...
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Zé e Zilda – Olha o côco Sinhá (Samba) on 78 rpm record
I bought this record a few days ago in a very nice place called “La Phonogalerie“, a huge shop devoted to phonographs and 78 rpm records located in the north of Paris, near Montmartre. I found a few...
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Orquesta Típica Bianco-Bachicha – Angustia (Tango) on 78 rpm record
Even though Buenos-Aires is the birthplace of Tango, Paris played a major role in the history of this dance and musical style. To be more precise, Paris was one the place where Tango evolved from a...
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The golden age of Soviet Jazz (1/2) : Leonid Utesov (Леонид Утёсов) on 78 rpm...
You might remember that I posted a few weeks ago this unexpected Russian version of La Cucaracha and wrote about the funny way I managed to find some 78 rpm records in Armenia. Here are two other...
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The Golden Age of Soviet Jazz (2/2) : Alexander Tsfasman (Александр Цфасман)...
The first part of this post focused on Leonid Utesov, who can be considered as the most popular Soviet singer of the 30′s. This second part introduces the pianist and composer Alexander Tsfasman...
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Cosmos Elegy (コスモスの悲歌) A mysterious Japanese waltz on 78 rpm record
I did my best but hardly found any information about this melancholic waltz from a Victor Japan record… With patience (and a very useful online dictionary), I managed to decipher the Japanese...
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Sadan Adanali – Aman Adanali, a Turkish folk song on 78 rpm record
Here is a record found in a box of 78s I bought in a flea market near my place a few months ago. “Aman Adanali” (Aman Adanalı in Turkish) is a well known anonymous folk song in Turkey, as evidenced by...
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Where to find 78 rpm records : a new section on the blog
I try to find 78 rpm records each time I visit a new place, but the lack of information makes it sometimes difficult, so I decided to create a list and a dynamic map of shops and markets worldwide. You...
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Oea-Oea, an Exotica track by Dick Elgg and his Tahitians on 78 rpm record
This blog has been inactive for a few months… Well, I have often lacked time to post something, or was sometimes just too lazy and prefered listening to my records rather than writing about them. I’m...
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Ngọc Bảo – Cô Tú, a Vietnamese 78rpm
Finding Vietnamese 78rpm records is not that easy, even though a lot of them were pressed here in France during the colonial period, when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina. This one comes from...
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Sonar Senghor et ses Siccos – Samsee
Senghor might sound as a familiar name to you: Maurice Sonar Senghor was indeed the nephew of Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first President of Senegal after the country’s independance. Maurice Sonar...
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March selection
It’s been long time since I haven’t posted anything on the blog, even though I have bought some great 78s in the past months. Instead of writing a long article as usual, I decided this time to share...
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New Year’s 78 rpm records selection
I wish I could have posted more on Ceints de bakélite in 2014… Before this year ends, here is a new selection of 78 rpm records from my collection. Enjoy! Timothee Tibo Essombe – Moni Ma Man I didn’t...
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Sound heritage and Azeri folk music… A guest contribution in the French...
As part of the 2015 European Heritage Days, the French Huffington Post invited the team of the BnF’s digital library Gallica to become a one-day community manager. For this occasion, several...
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Oea-Oea, an Exotica track by Dick Elgg and his Tahitians on 78 rpm record
This blog has been inactive for a few months… Well, I have often lacked time to post something, or was sometimes just too lazy and prefered listening to my records rather than writing about them. I’m...
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Discovering the lost record stores of Paris
As a collector of 78rpm records, I often come across visual evidences of the activity of now disappeared record stores: illustrated sleeves, stickers, stamps, advertisements, postcards. That’s how I...
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From Alger to Antananarivo – A selection of 78rpm records from Africa
This selection of 26 songs taken from my 78rpm record collection was created for the Paris Music Library. It is a subjective and modest journey through Africa’s sound heritage. It doesn’t aim at...
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A video interview given to the French National Library (BnF)
Here is a video made by the French National Library (BnF) where I talk about Gallica’s sound collections, Malagasy 78rpm records and my mapping project Disquaires de Paris… Check also this interview...
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What will be the future of phonograph? A retrofuturistic text from 1929
While browsing Gallica, I came across this fascinating and very visionary text published in 1929 in French newspaper L’Intransigeant. Its author wonders about the future of phonograph and writes about...
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