Georges Moustaki

Georges Moustaki born Giuseppe Mustacchi 3 May 1934 23 May 2013 was an EgyptianFrench singersongwriter of Jewish ItaloGreek origin best known for the poetic rhythm and simplicity of the romantic songs he composed and often sang Moustaki gave France some of its bestloved music by writing about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in that country such as Édith Piaf Dalida Françoise Hardy Yves Montand Barbara Brigitte Fontaine Herbert Pagani France Gall Cindy Daniel Juliette Gréco Pia Colombo and Tino Rossi as well as for himself Georges Moustaki was born Giuseppe Mustacchi in Alexandria Egypt on 3 May 1934 His parents Sarah and Nessim Mustacchi were Francophile Greek Jews from the ancient Romaniote Jewish community Originally from the Greek island of Corfu they moved to Egypt where young Giuseppe was born and first learned French They owned the Cité du Livre one of the finest book shops in the Middle East in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria where many ethnic communities lived together Moustakis father spoke five languages whereas his mother spoke six The young Giuseppe and his two older sisters spoke Italian at home and Arabic in the streets The parents placed Giuseppe and his sisters in a French school where they learned to speak French At the age of 17 after a summer holiday in Paris Moustaki obtained his fathers permission to move there working as a doortodoor salesman of poetry books He began playing the piano and singing in nightclubs in Paris where he met some of the eras bestknown performers His career took off after the young singersongwriter Georges Brassens took Moustaki under his wing Brassens introduced him to artists and intellectuals who spent much of their time around SaintGermaindesPrés Out of gratitude Moustaki adopted the first name of the only musician he called master Moustaki said that his taste for music came from hearing various French singers Édith Piaf Charles Trenet Henri Salvador Georges Ulmer Yves Montand Georges Guétary and Luis Mariano sing Moustaki was introduced to Édith Piaf in the late 1950s by a friend whose praise of the young songwriter was so flattering that Piaf then at the peak of her fame requested somewhat sarcastically to hear him sing his best works I picked up a guitar and I was lamentable But something must have touched her She asked me to go and see her perform that same evening at the Olympia music hall and to show her later the songs I had just massacred He soon began writing songs for Piaf the most famous of which Milord about a lowerclass girl who falls in love with an upperclass British traveller reached number one in Germany in 1960 and number 24 in the British charts the same year It has since been performed by numerous artists including Bobby Darin and Cher Piaf was captivated by Moustakis music as well as his great charm Piaf liked how his musical compositions were flavored with jazz and styles that went beyond Frances borders Moustaki and Piaf became lovers and embarked on what the newspaper Libération described as a year of devastating mad love with the newspapers following the scandal of the gigolo and his dame day after day Source Article Georges Moustaki from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA