Henri Salvador, the great Guyanese singer/songwriter, died this year (back in February), and we never marked his passing here.  I wanted to salute him, briefly, before this dismal year evaporated for good.

He had a long and active career in Europe and South America, but never crossed that baffling cultural divide to win much of an audience in the U.S. (although he apparently did appear on the “Ed Sullivan Show”).

There’s much to say about him: the early tropical tunes that Jobim cited as a crucial influence; the many collaborations with that incomparable provocateur, Boris Vian; the impressive arsenal of vocal styles, including an inspired gallery of funny voices; the surprising comeback in his eighties, still in great voice.  You can find more by rooting through the www or YouTube.

But here, I wanted to mention that he was also a connoisseur of modernist music and literature, and a member of the ‘Pataphysical College.  I wanted to recommend Stanley Chapman’s translation of “‘Pataphysics?  What’s That?”, a 1959 radio dialogue with Vian, published in 2006 by the London Institute of ‘Pataphysics.  And, above all, I wanted to translate this cheery repudiation of artistic purity:

“I am in favor of all cross-breeding of ideas, all mingling of opinions.  To achieve great works, all copulations are allowed, from country to country, even the most reprehensible.”

(Posted by Doug Skinner)