Camille Bertault & Paul Bertault - Songs for My Daughter (2023) [Hi-Res]

Love of music is something that can be passed down through generations. The draw of music heard or played in a household by a parent can lead children to study or even excel in the art. It is especially helpful if a parent can help the child to develop a facility on an instrument or in performance firsthand.

Vocalist Camille Bertault took her first strides in music under the tutelage of her father, Paul Bertault, a pianist who dabbled in classical and jazz music. From this early inspiration, the younger Bertault took to the music and continued into a successful and celebrated career as a performer. The pair regularly play together at home and for small concerts, leading to a unique musical connection. On their new recording, Songs for My Daughter, the Bertaults present a program that celebrates their bond and allows listeners a glimpse.

Paul Bertault began studying the piano with his mother, who introduced him to the classics by Mozart and Debussy. His enthusiasm for the music led him to teach himself classical repertoire, but it was jazz that held his heart. He learned the music in secret and, once on his own, performed many gigs throughout his native France. Bertault did not follow the path of performance in the end, but he did manage to become a celebrated sound engineer, working with many of film’s most important figures, including Orson Welles and Jacques Demy.

When his daughter was a toddler, Paul realized that she had a musical ear, as she was able to pick up melodies of songs that she heard from the eclectic selection being played in the house. It wasn’t long before Paul sat Camille at the piano and began to teach her what he knew, beginning with Maurice Ravel’s “Ma mère l’oie” for four hands on a single piano. This foundation led to Camille attending conservatory at eight years old, thus beginning her path into music.

Throughout her youth, Camille performed with her father at home and on vacations. They maintained their regular sessions even as she grew to adulthood and became a professional. It was during the pandemic that Paul made it clear that he would like to record their duo. They had recorded previously but this time they wanted to make use of their neighbor engineer Francis Linon’s studio near Nice, the studio for the celebrated prog-rock band, Magma.

Going into the studio, the duo knew they wanted to keep it loose, calling tunes that they liked with a jam session feel. They also knew that there were certain pieces that made logical sense for them to play. The composer Michel Legrand was important to both of their lives. Paul had met Legrand and worked with his music alongside director Demy. Camille grew up with Legrand’s music and later performed a concert of his music with the Paris Philharmonic.

Brazilian music has also become one of Camille’s fixations over the past decade. She has visited Brazil nearly 25 times and made it a second home. She has also performed with many of the country’s finest musicians. When the duo arrived at the studio in April 2022, they had an eclectic program ready to record.

The program begins with the Gershwin brothers’ “Our Love Is Here To Stay,” the duo providing a quietly restrained, yet playful rendition of the classic. Thelonious Monk’s “Ruby My Dear” follows with its stately melody with French lyrics provided by Camille, while Henri Salvador and Bernard Dimey’s “Syracuse” unfurls delicately like a flower with Paul’s lilting piano and Camille’s breathy vocals. Legrand and Agnes Varda’s “Chanson de Lola” from Jacques Demy’s film of the same name is performed in a direct and martial fashion.

Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge” is fluid and lush, the duo providing a perfect feel, like blue satin. Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Dindi” is measured but shimmers under Camille’s command of Aloysio de Oliveira’s playful Portuguese lyric. Ivan Lin’s “The Island” is a wistful tune, but with some of Camille’s most gorgeously delivered lines, while Jobim’s “Luisa” takes a chilling and dramatic turn. There is a subtle urgency to John Coltrane’s “Naima,” as Paul’s piano takes a more muscular approach.

Camille’s voice dances over “Y Decidete Mi Amor,” a Cuban son by guitarist José Antonio Méndez García. The feeling descends to melancholy on their rhapsodic take on the Bill Carey and Carl Fischer standard, “You Have Changed.” Legrand and Demy’s “Amour, Amour” gives the duo a rollicking melody that they stretch, allowing moments of warmth and dissonance. The recording concludes with Camille’s original, “Winter In Aspremont,” a lovely ballad inspired by returning to her family home during the pandemic winter.

The collaboration between Camille Bertault and Paul Bertault has been the longest and most meaningful of their lives. It is only natural that a father and daughter pairing should evince a special connection and natural but unique communication. The duo’s Songs for My Daughter is a heartwarming display of heart and love through music between these two.

Camille Bertault - vocals
Paul Bertault - piano