Next month, on Sunday, October 2, I will be participating in the annual Jazz Marathon of WTJU in Charlottesville, VA. Ever since I moved to this area, I have loved this public radio station, because they play a great variety of jazz on a daily basis. Another thing I really like about WTJU is that it is run by volunteers, people from the community who all greatly care about the radio station that is owned by the University of Virginia. 

The Jazz Marathon is one of WTJU's major fundraisers each year. Donations from the community of Charlottesville and beyond allow the station to keep going strong. The more listeners who pledge their support, the better programs they can make at WTJU.
This year the Jazz Marathon will be held from September 26 through Sunday, October 2nd. During this week there will be great jazz on the radio all day long, in a variety of shows. And then there are broadcasts from the studio: local jazz cats like Bobby Read, Greg Howard, and Gina Sobel are among the musicians performing live, making this jazz week truly special. 

To conclude the week, I will be performing "From Piaf to Porter" with a new band in The Southern Café and Music Hall on Sunday afternoon, October 2nd, from 4 - 6 pm.
Accompanying me for this special theater show are Gérard Brikkenaar van Dijk on piano, Bob Bowen on bass, Bill Edmonds on guitar, and David Drubin on drums. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to WTJU. The show will be broadcast live on the air and over the internet, but hope to greet many music lovers at The Southern on October 2nd!

For more information and tickets, click here.

A while ago I got an email from a fan, asking me if I have lyrics and translations in English for the songs from my CD “Chez Moi”. She wanted to teach her 8-year-old granddaughter to sing along with the CD, thus practicing her French. What a great idea!
 
Coincidentally, I was just working on a new page on my website, for lyrics, translations and related topics. While I think it is not necessary to understand a language in order to appreciate the sound of it, a song can get a deeper meaning if the listener truly knows what it is about.

It gets even better, when you know what the writer wanted to say with the lyrics, as I do with the songs that my French friend François Tremouille wrote for me. Two of them, “Certains Jours” and “Les Mots” are among my favorites.

So, as I am getting back to class with the Alliance Française to keep getting better at French, I hope my songs - both original and covers of old-time favorites - will inspire others to get to know more about this beautiful language. 

Please visit the Lyrics page for the first two songs from the CD with translations. It will be updated regularly!

Is it possible to fall in love with a city in just two days? I know it is! Last month I was in Besançon, France for 48 hours and now I can't wait to get back. The capital of the Franche-Comté and birth place of Victor Hugo may just be the best kept secret of the eastern region. The city has a beautiful historic downtown with charming squares, streets with cobble stones and 18th century buildings that make you feel like you have been transported back in time. In a good way, that is.

I was in the city to promote my music tour that will take place in April of this year to celebrate 10 years of friendship between Besançon and my hometown, Charlottesville. I met and played music with local musicians, talked about my new CD and the music tour on Radio France Bleu (listen to it in French here), spoke with newspaper reporters (read it in French here), received the 'Clef de la Ville' (key to the city) from the deputy mayor, and got to know a little bit of the city, with the help of my good friends over there. The Bisontins - that is the name for the inhabitants of Besançon - went out of their way to make my two-day trip worth every minute. Thanks to my French "road manager," Jean, who tirelessly worked to get me from one place to the other on time, I can look back on a very successful promotion trip.
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Our meetings took place in the theater where we will perform some of the concerts, Le Scènacle. It is located in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, at the base of La Citadelle, Besançon's famous fortress that was designed by Louis XIV's architect Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban. Part of the  theater is a beautiful little chapel that dates back to 1875, which is a cool place for receptions and concerts as well. Founder Quentin Juy, who came to Charlottesville a couple of years ago with theater group Bacchus, will be our generous host when we play at Le Scènacle in April. 

It is very exciting to think that in less than two months, I will be traveling to France with band members Matty and Rick, to perform with our colleagues from Besançon, in an ultimate musical liaison, worthy of 10 years of friendship between Charlottesville and her sister city.

​Stay tuned for more, as I will be reporting  - live - from France this spring!

Over the summer, I have been preparing for my new album Chez Moi, which we recorded in Charlottesville, VA on September 13. In one word, the recording session was “magical,” a day in which all of the musicians in the band were completely in tune with one another, creating a rare synergy. I could not be more proud of what we accomplished, and I am eager to share it with the world.

The crowning moment and ultimate reward will come next April, when I will travel to Besançon, France, to perform music from the new album and to celebrate the culture and arts of original French and American music. How exciting it will be to have people sing along with tunes they know so well—and then to be taken by surprise as I sing them in different languages!
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More information on Chez Moi coming soon!
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“We were at the Blues Alley show three years ago and don’t want to wait that long again–thank you for a fine show!” is a comment that appeared in Paulien’s inbox only moments after her latest show in Washington, DC on November 17, 2014.

Indeed, after a three-year absence, Paulien made her third appearance at one of the nation’s finest jazz venues, Blues Alley. What a night! Clubs are not the easiest to fill on a Monday, especially one as dreary and wet as the night of Paulien’s performance. Yet, it was a nearly sold-out house and attracted a discerning audience who came to see her show, which was almost exclusively in French and supported by superb musicians from the DC area and her home town, Charlottesville.
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What makes such rare appearances by Paulien so special is that she is one of the few singers who shows clear appreciation and respect for her audience and accompanying musicians, with never a moment of self-indulgence, arrogance, endless solos or long waits. She did not merely sing her repertoire of French classics, but performed each as though she were telling a very personal story.  And because it was also her birthday, she treated the audience at the end to 250 homemade French macarons, adding a nice little touch to the end of a very special evening…”A fine show!”