Faubourg 116 - Brian Funshine

Faubourg 116 法步一一六
French Chansons
& Other Music from Europe
faubourg116@gmail.com
Kaa: 0955-375790
Lio: 0926-612202
Brian: 0921-863891
Faubourg 116 法步一一六
Discover the beauty of
French chansons!
Faubourg 116, founded in April 2010, is a trio with vocals and guitar, accordion, and double-bass. Singer Kaa, while he sings in French, is German, American bassist Brian Alexander comes from Tampa, Florida, and
French accordionist Lio Pinard grew up in Paris. Three different nationalities, three experienced musicians, diverse musical backgrounds, and a
common love for the beautiful melodies of French chansons with all their
passion, humor, melancholy, and romance.
Faubourg is the french word for suburbia, and 116 is the postal code of
the Wenshan District in Taipei, where Lio and Kaa, the founding members of the group, live.
Faubourg 116’s core program consists of classic and recent songs by the
crème de la crème of French singers and songwriters: Carles Aznavour,
Gilbert Bécaud, Jacques Brel, Julien Clerc, Joe Dassin, Jacques Dutronc,
Serge Gainsbourg, and many more. In addition, the group performs
songs in Italian, German, and English. With lead singer Kaa on soprano
saxophone, Faubourg 116 also plays instrumental music, notably French
Musette (accordion music), Tango, and Gypsy music.
In their short history, the group has already played two major events: the
2010 Bastille Day celebrations of the French-Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce (CCIFT), and the 2010 Folk Festival in Kending.
Kaa and Lio posing for the camera at the Bastille Day celebrations 2010 at the Westin Hotel
Taipei.
Kaa
(Germany)
Kaa (aka Klaus Bru) is a German singer, composer, saxophonist, and laptop musician
currently living in Taipei.
Kaa was born in the South of
Germany, close to the Swiss
and Austrian border. As a
teenager, Kaa played piano,
classical guitar, and flute. He
studied Jazz saxophone at
the Music University in Graz,
Austria. After graduating, he
lived in Vienna and worked
as a freelance saxophonist,
performing everything from
avant-garde,
mainstream
jazz, and free improvisation
to Austrian folk and pop music. From Vienna he moved to
Berlin, Germany, shifting his
focus to sound art and experimental electronic music. As a
composer and musician for a
dance company from Berlin,
he came to Taiwan in 2001, by
way of an invitation to the dance festival “Men Dancing” at Novel Hall Taipei -- and stayed.
In Taiwan, he leads his own jazz trio “I Have A New Band Now”,
works frequently with pianist Shih Yang Lee and his group “Caught
Up In”, and plays saxophone for corporate events and weddings.
Kaa’s sings in 5 languages: French, German, English, Italian, Chinese. He
also writes and performs original songs, of which most are in German.
With Faubourg 116, Kaa interprets the most enchanting Chansons Francaises.
Vocals
Guitar
Soprano Saxophone
Lionel Pinard
(France)
French artist Lionel Pinard (aka Lio)
comes from Paris, France. He started playing the piano at the age of six
and had years of extensive classical
music training at the famous conservatory of Rueil Malmaison in Paris.
He also took private lessons in jazz
improvisation with known pianists
at music schools in Paris.
Lio, who has been living in Taiwan
for several years, started to immerse
himself in the local music scene in
2006: He founded and led the “Nomads Ensemble”, a multi-discipline
music project with poetry, dance,
and music inspired by Gypsy Music, Avant-garde, and Jazz. Lio is a
sought-after accordion player, he
has performed with many musicians (among others with Erhu
player Tanghsuan Lo of “A Moving Sound”) in different venues on
various occasions: improvisation
concerts, music recitals, corporate
events, weddings, parties.
Currently, Lio is a member of Flaneur Daguerre, an eclectic Free Jazz
band, and of the world music trio
“Sukhena” which takes its inspiration from Indian and other ethnic
music.
Of course, his accordion gives the music of Faubourg 116 its unique color.
Accordion
Brian Alexander
(USA)
Brian Alexander is an
American Jazz bassist and
vocalist from Tampa, Florida residing permanently in
Taipei. Brian began his musical training on trumpet
and saxophone, playing
in various swing, marching and symphonic bands,
and contemporary groups,
before switching to upright
bass & studying Jazz music
performance and education
at the University of South
Florida, USA.
Brian performs as a freelance bassist, guitarist,
percussionist, and vocalist.
He has been a member of
numerous groups, including “Jazz and Love”, a traditional Jazz combo, “East
West Express”, a group that
merges Jazz with Chinese
music, “The Scooters”, an
acapella singing group,
and Taiwan’s very own National Philharmonic Choir.
Moreover, Brian, whose
multifaceted voice can be
heard on many commercials on radio, TV, and the web, is one of the busiest voiceover talents in Taiwan.
He has performed in live venues, weddings, and private and corporate events in many of Taipei’s most well known wedding and entertainment venues such as Grand Formosa Hotel, Regent Hotel, Blue Note,
Brown Sugar, China Pa, Living Room, Bliss, Grace Hill, and Sappho.
His bass now is the foundation for the music of Faubourg 116.
Double Bass
Backing Vocals
The music of
Faubourg 116 法步一一六
French
La chanson de Prévert, La javanaise - Serge Gainsbourg
Les Bonbons - Jacques Brel
Aux Champs-Elysées, Si tu n’éxistais pas - Joe Dassin
La ballade des gens heureux - Gérard Lenorman
La bohème - Charles Aznavour
L’important c’est la rose - Gilbert Bécaud
Il tape sur des bambous - Philippe Lavil
Le petit jardin, J’aime les filles, Les Playboys - Jacques Dutronc
Les amoureux des bancs publics - Georges Brassens
La maladie d’amour - Michel Sardou
Sans dire un mot - Emmanuel Moire
Ce n’est rien - Julien Clerc
La vie en rose, Padam Padam, Je ne veux pas travailler - Edith Piaf
Mirza - Nino Ferrer
German
99 Luftballons - Nena
Marmor Stein und Eisen bricht - Drafi Deutscher
Dass du meine Liebste bist; Abend wird es wieder - German Folksong
Lili Marleen - Lale Andersen
Italian
Ti amo - Umberto Tozzi
Se bastasse una bella canzone - Eros Ramazotti
English
Standard Songs such as Moon River, Can’t take my eyes off you, Que sera, etc.
Chinese
月亮代表我的心 - Teresa Deng
我原意為你 ﹣ Faye Wong
Instrumental Music
Ma Russia - Tango
La java bleue, La valse brune, Ah! Le petit blanc, Sous les ponts de Paris - Musette
Les yeux noirs - Gypsy Music
La valse d’Amélie - Film Music
Besame Muscho - Latin Jazz
Talijanska - Russian
Zorba the Greek - Greek
Bambino - Italian