Passing of Francis-Alfred Moerman

brandoneon

Very sad news in deed.

http://www.djangostation.com/Deces-de-F ... ,1282.html

His music will always charm me!

redblues

RIP Francis Moerman - a real loss

patrus le sommelier

sad news for sure, I am listening to all his recording yesterday and today

page hommage a Moerman here:
http://www.patrus53.com/2010/05/02/moerman/

CalebFSU

This is very Sad news indeed!!!!

Michael Bauer

What an elegant player! What a sad loss for the GJ world.

scot

Yes, it's true. Francis passed away at home, in his sleep Saturday night. There is to be a service in the old church in his village of Vezieres Thursday at 3PM. He'd been ill with Parkinson's disease for several years and I think it had just worn him out.

Francis was truly a man from another time. As a musician, well, he had a repertoire of hundreds if not thousands of tunes. He could play in many different styles and was skilled at everything from serbian folksongs to Moroccan tunes to jazz manouche and bebop. His connection to jazz manouche goes back to 1960 when he played with Sarrane Ferret, and then he went on to play with Baro, Matelot, Joseph and Lousson Reinhardt, Thierry Robin and many other guitarists and singers over the decades. Recently he'd been very enthusiastic about his young protege, Antoine Boyer. His guitar playing was not as technically polished as we expect today and I often felt like this put some people off a bit, but for Francis it simply wasn't about technique. More than just a guitarist, he wrote beautiful poetry, was a skilled cartoonist and caricaturist, and wrote several musical comedies, one of which was performed for the King of Morocco. He'd played music in Paris all through the 1960s, and one of my fondest memories is of a sunny autumn afternoon we spent going around the city, while he pointed out this cafe, that nightspot, this restaurant, that bistro, where the guitarists of Paris plied their trade. Francis loved the Vienne region around his old farmhouse and over the years he took me many places I certainly would never have seen on my own. He was most at home tramping the medieval streets and ruins of old cities like Chinon, and really he seemed to know everyone and everything of interest for miles around.

I could go on and on about Francis the man, but there just isn't anything I can say that could possibly describe his essential and limitless warmth, wisdom and generosity. He lived in the most modest (if not primitive) of circumstances and over the last several years I think he suffered a lot from his illness, especially as he could no longer play. Yet none of it ever got him down and he never complained.

With his passing, another link to the history of this music is irretrievably lost. There are only one or two guitarists of that generation still living, I think. This is too bad but also a natural progression. The greater loss is the passing of such a kind and generous man. Such people are all too rare in this world. RIP, old friend.

CalebFSU

Great words Scot I know he was special to you, as a friend and not just a link to this music, I am sorry for your personal loss as well as the loss to this music we all enjoy so much.
Caleb

Michael Bauer

Scot, thank you for that beautiful elegy. It's sad to see another Titan pass from our world. I especially liked Moerman's playing because it wasn't the usual shredding at unheard of tempos. He played like a mortal, but a mortal with esquisite taste and touch. That made him more tangible to me, more like something I could aim for. It's nice to hear that he was something of a Renaissance man as well. It fits in well with what I hear in his playing.

Jacques Mazzoleni had one of the last guitars Moerman gave up for sale 2-3 years ago: a Selmer Hawaiian that Dupont had converted to a cutaway. I really wanted that guitar so as to have a link to a special player, but couldn't afford it at the time. I sure hope it found a good home with someone who appreciates Moerman's music.

It was nice to hear from someone who actually knew him, so thanks for sharing your thoughts on him. I envy you that, and I am sorry to hear that you lost a friend, as well as a great player.