Léona Gabriel ~ La Reine de la Biguine [Maladie d'amour] 78rpm recordings

Pharaon Records, 1996

01. Maladie d'amour
02. C'est biguine
03. Ti femme ta la
04. Mabillage décollage
05. Femme qui dou
06. Petite fleur fanée
07. Calalou
08. Moin belle !
09. Maman...la grève barré moin (oué, oué, oué)
10. Ti bourrique assou la l'vée
11. Ah ! gadé yo ché
12. Agalou
13. A si paré
14. L'échelle poule
15. Ninon
16. Zafé co ida
17. Mamée la créole
18. Paris Biguine
19. Celestin roi diable
20. L'homme à lunettes



'Leona Gabriel was a Martinican biguine singer [1891-1971] born in Rivière-Pilote, Martinique. Daughter of a white creole she grew up in Martinique, going to secretarial school in Cayenne, Guyana at age 14, going on to work as a secretary for the Lesseps company during the building of the Panama Canal. After returning for a period to Martinique she moved to Paris in 1920. In France she began singing and recording with the orchestra of pianist Alexandre Stellio under the stage name of Mademoiselle Estrella. Gabriel returned to Martinique in the 1940s, becoming a radio presenter, a career which lasted over 30 years. She continued recording until the 1960s.' plus

hardly any takers on 10cc but that's all good, hopefully we scared off any uptite nonbelievers. here goes the reigning queen of biguine & one of the better songbirds, in any tongue. once again, haven't the foggiest notion what the 'graphic design division' of pharaon records musta been smokin when they green-lighted that garish cover art, but twas a labour of love coalescing those two old-school photos into a more optically inviting alternative for the uninitiated.

first heard this chanteuse & her wildly talented orchestre on the equally essential 'Hot Womens Singers from the Torrid Regions' compilation curated/ illustarted by R. Crumb. this one originally dropped by the unstoppable constantin59000 somewheres out thar in the more obscure realms [to yanks, anyway] of syberspace. thanks to toro y loco for the hot tip