MADELEINE PEYROUX

Much like songbird Edith Piaf, Madeleine Peyroux spent her teenage years busking the busy streets of Paris. Just like the ‘little sparrow’, Madeleine befriended the city’s street musicians and made its Latin quarter her first performing stage. Years later, Peyroux would cite iconic Piaf as an influence on her music and record a rendition of the classic “La Vie En Rose,” soulfully capturing the tune’s romanticism and melancholy. Her breakthrough album Dreamland (1996) sold a striking 200,000 copies and Madeleine’s dusky voice was likened to that of jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

The album cemented Madeleine Peyroux as a ‘classic’ musical talent that was here to stay, and the soulful singer found herself touring the world, singing with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and opening for Cesaria Evora. Extensive touring took its toll on Madeleine’s voice and Jazz’s new star failed to complete recording sessions for her second Atlantic record. Unable to “make money without singing”, Madeleine made several futile attempts at odd jobs, and soon “went into hibernation”.

In 2003 she signed to Rounder Records and embarked on a game-changing, lifelong collaboration with multi-Grammy winning producer Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Walter Becker, Herbie Hancock). The prolific partnership has now spanned many years and created universally acclaimed albums, hailed by many as timeless classics including: Careless Love (2004), Half the Perfect World (2006), Bare Bones (2009), her first try at an album of entirely new compositions, Standing On the Rooftop (2011), and The Blue Room,(2013).

She self-produced her next album, Secular Hymns, (2016), recorded live at a church in Oxfordshire, England. A collaboration with her touring trio, guitarist Jon Herington (Steely Dan) and bassist Barak Mori (Avishai Cohen) the album features an eclectic mix of Jazz, soul, dub and blues, with covers of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Townes Van Zandt and Willie Dixon.

In 2019, Madeleine released Anthem, – reflecting on the contemporary political conversation, Anthem featured all new songs (excepting the title track by Leonard Cohen), co-written with Larry Klein, guitarist and lyricist David Baerwald, organist Patrick Warren and drummer Brian MacLeod.

Thirty years after her formative busking days Peyroux is the proud curator of nine beguiling albums and an accomplished performer with sell out worldwide tours under her belt. Her atmospheric version of Serge Gainsborough’s La Javanaise was used in the soundtrack of Oscar Winner The Shape of Water and her countless accolades include the coveted BBC “International Artist of The Year” honor.