Gilbert Laffaille was born in Paris on 25 April 1948 to a Corsican mother and a Toulousan father, who was a renowned art dealer. Gilbert grew up in the chic Parisian suburb of Neuilly - and complained that nothing whatsoever interested him there! However, after leaving Neuilly to study at the university of Nanterre in 1968, he appeared to revise that opinion when he wrote one of his first songs, “Neuilly Blues”. Gilbert taught himself to play guitar at the age of 15 and has been accompanying himself ever since (although he claims the instrument is just a “hobby” for him).

Tentative debut

After obtaining a degree in literature, Laffaille began working as a French teacher in 1973. He would continue in this post for three years. Over the following years, Laffaille went on to earn a living through an impressive variety of jobs, working as a tour guide (principally in Asia), a toy seller and an art vendor before going back to teaching again. He ended up teaching reading and writing classes for immigrant workers, an activity which left him sufficient free time to sit down and pen his first songs. (In their earliest stage, these were actually more like poetry than other songs of the day).

Meanwhile, Laffaille had also taken his first tentative steps towards launching a singing career. (He preferred to perform other singer’s material rather than his own and, in those days, preferred to sing in English, too). Laffaille went off for an audition at “L'Echelle de Jacob”, a tiny cabaret in the rue Mouffetard neighbourhood, but was turned down by the casting director. Mortified, but determined to persevere nevertheless, Laffaille went back to the drawing-board and began work on a new repertoire. He landed a first spot, performing his new repertoire at “Chez Georges”, a cabaret in rue des Cannettes in the Latin Quarter. Laffaille went on to perform at the “Hootenany” evenings organised at the American Cultural Centre in Paris, where any artist was invited to take to the stage – but could only return if the audience approved! Laffaille passed the popularity test and launched his performing career in this low-key way.

Laffaille got one of his first big breaks when an old musician friend, who was finishing up an album, introduced him to his future producer, Arnaud de Froberville. A year later, in 1976, Laffaille went into the studio himself to record his own debut album, “Le Président et l'Eléphant” (orchestrated by François Rauber). The title track of the album (released eight months later, in 1977) was a satirical number about the French president of the time, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and elephants being murdered on safari in Kenya. Giscard d’Estaing was none too appreciative of the song and it was banned from the airwaves in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in March 1978. Needless to say, “Le Président et l'Eléphant” put Gilbert Laffaille firmly on the French music map.

Thus it was that Laffaille started playing in bigger, mainstream venues –although he still continued to perform at local youth clubs and cultural centres up and down France. In 1978, he made his first appearance at the major French music festival “Le Printemps de Bourges.”

Laffaille’s second album, “Nettoyage de Printemps,” was released later that same year and won instant recognition from the critics. Indeed, it went on to win the prestigious “Prix de l'Académie du Disque,” the International Press Award and the “Grand Prix” at the Chanson Festival in Spa (Belgium). Following this success, Laffaille went on to perform several concerts at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. Meanwhile, the Belgian press – greatly amused by the singer’s on-stage mishaps (such as knocking over a camera and stumbling over the words to his songs for a full twenty minutes) dubbed him “Gilbert Lagaffe!”

In 1980, Gilles Vigneault asked Laffaille to support him on a mini European tour which included dates across Switzerland, Belgium and France. Laffaille made the most of this opportunity, presenting songs from his third album, “Kaléidoscope.” (The album went on to win Laffaille more awards including the “Prix International Jeune Chanson” and the Sacem’s “Prix Raoul Breton”).

Career break

In 1981, Gilbert Laffaille branched out in a new direction, recording his first live album, “Live in Chatou” (which featured extracts from his successful run at the Théâtre de la Ville). Then an unexpected drama in his personal life brought a temporary interruption to his career. Following the death of his girlfriend, Laffaille took a two-year break from singing. Meanwhile, Laffaille’s songwriting continued to make an impact across Europe, however. A number of his songs were included in French-language schoolbooks, helping schoolchildren in Holland, West Germany and Sweden master the intricacies of the French language. In 1983, Laffaille returned to the music news with his fifth album, “Folie Douce,” which made only a minor impact compared to his earlier successes.

1984 marked a radical turning-point in Laffaille’s career. For it was at this stage that he abandoned his traditional style of singing with an orchestra and presented a completely new style of show. Taking to the stage by himself, Laffaille entertained audiences for an hour-and-a-half at a time, accompanying himself on guitar. His new show was not purely musical, either. Laffaille punctuated his songs with sketches, poems and visual gags in what he called a "skonch," proving that he was equally talented at playing the actor and showman as he was at singing and songwriting. Laffaille went on to perform his “skonch” at the “Printemps de Bourges” festival on 1 April 1984 and got a wildly enthusiastic reception from the crowd.

In 1985, Laffaille went on to present a new, ‘enriched’ version of his one-man show, (henceforth entitled “Je Vais Mieux”), performing it at “L'Escalier d'Or,” in Paris, for a six-week run. Meanwhile, he also released his sixth album, “L'Année du Rat,” which included tributes to Boby Lapointe (“Hello Boby”) and legendary French ‘chanson’ star Charles Trenet (“Tante Aglaé”). Two tracks on the album were written in collaboration with Laurent Angrand. Later that same year, Laffaille returned to the festival circuit, re-appearing at the “Printemps de Bourges” and the “Festival d'Avignon.” 1985 was also marked by the singer’s wedding (in July) and by further critical recognition when the French president made him a “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.”

Laffaille hit the road again in 1986 for a series of concert tours which took him to Greece, East Germany and Portugal. He also re-appeared at the “Printemps de Bourges” and the “Festival d’Avignon” and confirmed his comic talent at the Comedy Festival in Cannes.

Between 1987 and 1988, Laffaille was hard at work writing songs for his next album, which he wrote in collaboration with Romain Didier, Michel Fugain and the Portuguese singer Fernando Marquès. He still found time to perform a mini-tour of Algeria and Morocco, however. 1988 was also marked by a happy event in the singer’s personal life, Laffaille welcoming his first daughter, Louise, into the world.

Adopting a modern approach

Laffaille’s seventh album, “Travelling” (released in 1989), found the singer revamping his style with more modern-sounding arrangements. Meanwhile, Laffaille’s live show evolved to coincide with this new sound, the singer abandoning the one-man show format and performing with a backing band. It was Laffaille’s encounter with the guitarist Jean-Marc Benaïs which inspired him to form a group of young musicians for a show that ultimately had more in keeping with musical theatre than a run-of-the-mill concert. The show was directed by Christian Ruché and Laffaille invited innovative dancer and juggler Jérôme Thomas (a former member of Annie Fratellini’s circus troupe) to support him.

Jérôme Thomas was supposed to have helped Laffaille organise his dream project, the “Festival de burlesque musical.” But the pair had to renounce the venture due to lack of financial funding. It appeared that cultural grants and subsidies went more easily to associations helping artists rather than artists themselves. And so Laffaille and his team went on to set up their own association, the “Centre de la Chanson d'Expression Française” (directed by the journalist Roger Gicquel). The association constituted their own archives of Francophone chanson and developed networks of promotion and exchange.

From 1989 onwards, Gilbert Laffaille’s career began to take on a new international dimension as the singer performed tours further abroad, playing to audiences in Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Quebec, France and Madagascar. Meanwhile, a Japanese version of “Travelling” was released in Japan (under the name “Zazou.”) Back home in France, Laffaille performed a series of new songs and old favourites at the Théâtre Dejazet in Paris. “Kaléidoscope,” a CD compilation featuring 18 songs written in 1978 and 1980, hit record stores soon afterwards.

In 1990, the first volume in the “French Kiss” series was released in Japan. The compilation of French singers included two songs by Laffaille taken from the album “Travelling” (“Cha Cha Media” and “Neige”). The following year, music fans in the Land of the Rising Sun rediscovered their favourite ‘French bossa nova singer’ on “Dimanche Après-Midi” (a new compilation featuring 15 of Laffaille’s classics).

Meanwhile, Laffaille was busy on the road, touring extensively between 1990 and 1992. His concert schedule took him from Africa and Madagascar to Quebec, Tunisia, the Netherlands and the Dutch West Indies (St Martin).
In 1994, Laffaille was back in the spotlight with a new album, entitled “Ici.” On this, his eighth album, the singer surrounded himself with a bunch of old musician friends including Richard Galliano (accordion, bandoneon and trombone), Michel Haumont (on guitars), Denis Bennarosch (on percussion) and Jean-Jacques Milteau (on harmonica). The acoustic arrangements paid tribute to the early Donovan albums (1965-1970) which had inspired Laffaille to start writing songs in the first place. “Ici” also included two songs dedicated to his daughters (“Boule d'Amour” and “Les Raisins Dorés”). “Ici” won widespread critical recognition in France, winning the "In Honorem" (the top prize awarded by the Académie Charles Cros).

On 17 October 1994, “La Ballade des Pendules”, a collection of Gilbert Laffaille’s writing was published by Editions Christian Pirot (as part of the "Chanson" series). The book, which included a preface by Claude Duneton, featured a number of previously unpublished texts including sketches and short plays. “La Ballade des Pendules” not only provided a unique insight into Laffaille’s poetic universe, it also served as a mini compendium of twenty years of writing activity.

Later that year, acting on a commission from the “Université Lumière de Lyon II,” Laffaille went on to write the children’s song “Pépin de Pomme.” The singer then embarked upon an extensive tour, playing dates across France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, the U.S., Romania and Moldavia. In 1995 he continued this tour with concerts in Morocco and France and also put in an appearance at the “Francofolies” music festival in La Rochelle.

In 1996, Laffaille re-emerged on the French music scene with a ninth album entitled “Tout M'Etonne.” This album revolved around re-arranged, re-recorded covers of 18 of his old favourites, but also included three new songs, “Dents d'Ivoire et Peau d'Ebène,” “Ballade de Jim Douglas” and “Le Triangle des Bermudes.” “Tout m’étonne” was recorded in collaboration with Michel Haumont (guitar and arrangements) and Christian Toucas on accordion (replacing Richard Galliano). The outstanding track on this new album was undoubtedly “Dents d'Ivoire et Peau d'Ebène,” a song about racial tolerance. Over the following years, the song was increasingly used in French primary and secondary schools and by local associations as part of a debate on racism. Laffaille was also invited to speak about the song at talks organised at schools, colleges and associations up and down the country. “Dents d'Ivoire et Peau d'Ebène” (Ivory Teeth and Ebony Skin) eventually spawned its own video-clip directed by Joseph Licide. But, strangely enough, the video was never shown on French television (only on French cinema screens). Meanwhile, on 21 October 1996, Gilbert Laffaille brought the house down at Le Bataclan in Paris.

In 1997 the video to “Dents d'Ivoire et Peau d'Ebène” was chosen as part of a special week of music videos shown in French cinemas.

The following year, Laffaille was back in the spotlight with “Introuvables,” an album of rare recordings. In fact, nine of the twelve songs featured on the album, had never been released in CD form before. In May 1999, Laffaille’s tenth album, “La tête ailleurs,” arrived in record stores.

“Tout M'Etonne”, the first instalment of Lafaille’s re-recorded songs from the past, was followed on 11 February 2003 by a second instalment, entitled “Dimanche après-midi” which featured 16 old favourites from the past 20 years. The singer, now in his fifties, claims he is ready to abandon music altogether and devote himself to drawing, literature, writing children’s books and performing one-man shows. Meanwhile, a second collection of his writing, “La Tête Ailleurs”, was published by Editions Christian Pirot. In the spring of 2003, Laffaille took to the stage at the Théâtre de 10 heures for a minimalist show, soberly entitled “Piano-Voix.” (The show ran from 25 February to 5 April 2003).

In February 2004, Gilbert Laffaille became director of the ‘Centre de la Chanson d'expression francophone’ in Paris.

March 2004