ABSTRACT
Michel Jonasz sometimes appears to be self-deprecating, modest in his aspirations as a singer-songwriter, unpretentious in his image. He has added a particular musical colouring to the poetic and dramatic resources of chanson, injecting into it an improbable fusion of jazz-funk, rhythm and blues, gospel and Hungarian gypsy music. His typical emotionality, for instance draws on both the North American blues tradition and the Hungarian gypsy style at the same time: both vocal styles have a tendency to 'bend' notes for emotional effect, just as Edith Piaf too had done. In 1998 Jonasz relaunched his musical career by changing labels to EMI, who produced a new, elaborately packaged album called Soul Music Airlines. It is to be hoped that Jonasz will continue progressing and developing and he may well find further new directions to add to his already impressive range of musical and lyrical styles.
