Boris Vian

France, 1946–1959

French novelist, jazz trumpeter and songwriter (1920-1959), at the centre of Saint-Germain-des-Pres. He sang badly on purpose and wrote 'Le Deserteur', banned during the Algerian war, proving that a chanson could carry corrosive, unsentimental text.

MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced Boris Vian and 1 artist Boris Vian influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Boris Vian?

• Duke Ellington — Vian's first jazz impression, in 1933, and a lifelong one — he was Ellington's liaison in Paris three decades later.
• Bix Beiderbecke — The trumpeter Vian played after. He cared enough to translate the novel written about Beiderbecke into French.
• Louis Armstrong — The other model for Vian's playing — he took up the trumpet in 1937 and joined the Hot Club de France the same year.

Which artists did Boris Vian influence?

• Serge Gainsbourg — Seeing Vian on stage at the Trois Baudets showed Gainsbourg that a song could be spoken rather than sung, and delivered without reaching for the audience. Vian then wrote the first press piece about him.