Marc Ogeret (CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
16 Rue Pétion, 75011 Paris, France

Born in Paris, French singer Marc Ogeret is best known for his powerful interpretations of political and poetic chanson. In the 1950s he started performing in cabarets, such as Chez Bernadette, Chez Agnès Capri, and La Colombe, on the Île de la Cité. He received the prix de Académie Charles-Cros in 1962, and the prix de l’Académie de la chanson in 1963 and 1964. Throughout his career Ogeret has been closely associated with the poetry of Louis Aragon, Jean Ferrat, and especially Aristide Bruant. He was an activist in the French Union of Performing Artists (SFA), and a regular on the music programs of Radio Libertaire, the radio station of the Anarchist Federation.

Claude Garden (Harmonica)
13 Rue Auguste Laurent, 75011 Paris, France

Dubbed a teenage harmonica sensation, Claude Garden burst onto the French music scene of the mid 1950s in variety shows and galas. It was an excellent way to learn his trade and helped him develop adaptability and resilience as a performer. As the 1960s began, Garden embarked on a recording career (mostly on the Fontana label) with a repertoire that embraced pop, jazz, dance crazes, and movie themes (such as Le Dernier Quart D’heure, 1962). It was jazz, more than any other genre that seduced him. Over the next few years playing alongside Martial Solal, Maurice Vander and his 11th arrondissement neighbour Luigi Trussardi, his passion for jazz flourished, and would endure for the rest of his life. As a jobbing musician he spent his career touring around the world, and established a strong affinity with fans in both Canada and Japan.

Manouchka (CHANTEURS ET CHANTEUSES)
113 Bd Voltaire, 75011 Paris, France

Known for her song writing prowess, Manouchka launched a solo career as a singer in the early 1960s. She released a handful of EPs on the Polydor label and appeared on the bill of Félix Vitry’s new stars variety show at Bobino alongside Sacha Distel. Unlike Distel, who went on to record hit songs as a singer, Manouchka will be best remembered as a writer, with songs recorded by Patachou, Caterina Valente, Colette Renard, Bourvil, and Juliette Greco.

Pierre Sandahl (PRODUCTEURS ET PRESENTATEURS DE L’O.R.T.F.)
160 Av. Ledru Rollin, 75011 Paris, France

During WW2 Pierre Sandahl was a journalist with Alger Républicain, and then a war correspondent for the Agence France-Presse (AFP). He wrote for a number of pro-Gaullist magazines, including Liberté de l’esprit, Espoir, and was also editor-in-chief of Notre République, a French political publication associated with the Union démocratique du travail (UDT). Throughout the 1960s he was a journalist and producer on current affairs radio shows at the ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française).

Nicole Broissin (ARTISTES LYRIQUES)
145 Bd Voltaire, 75011 Paris, France

Soprano Nicole Broissin trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she earned first prizes in singing, opéra-comique and opérette. She made her debut in 1958 at the Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris) in the fairy-tale operetta Rose de Noël. For nearly twenty years, Broissin was a leading figure in French operetta, performing in major venues across France and undertaking international tours in Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Australia, and Canada. She had a distinguished teaching career following her years as a performer, serving in prominent positions at major Parisian conservatories.

Benoît Kaufman – Piano
99 Rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris, France

Born in Paris, Benoît Kaufman studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1958 to 1962, winning first prize in several piano exams. To make ends meet he worked as a guitarist in the Folies Pigalle band and in 1961 joined the rock’n’roll group Les Champions. They worked with American icon Gene Vincent for a series of concerts in Paris and we’re the support band of Danyel Gérard. After being demobilised from military service in 1966 Kaufman was an in-demand session musician for the remainder of the decade, working with Michel Polnareff and Jean Claudric. In the 1970s he was a studio arranger for some of the biggest names in the business including Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Marcel Amont, Sévérine, Marie Laforet, Sophie Makhno and Adamo. He moved to Palm Springs, California in the 1980s before settling in Switzerland. Kaufman was the musical director of TSR (the French-speaking TV station in Switzerland) and through this association became the musical director and chief conductor of the Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne in 1989.

Palais de la Femme / Hotel Populaire Hommes
94 Rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris, France

The Palais de la Femme is built on the site of the former Convent of the Daughters of the Cross, a Dominican convent. This building with its 743 rooms, initially served as a hostel for single men but emptied in 1914 when the occupants were mobilised during WW1. The Salvation Army acquired the building, and officially opened the Palais de la Femme in 1926. Comprising 300 studio apartments, it now provides shelter for single women and women with children.

Claude Benaya – Guitare
10 Rue Godefroy Cavaignac, 75011 Paris, France

Multi-instrumentalist Claude Benaya studied violin at the Conservatoire de musique, de danse et d’art dramatique d’Alger, winning the Prix Charles Simian by unanimous vote in 1952. After a short-lived singing career in the 1960s, he turned to the guitar and a change of name. Under the alias Cliff Cardwin he released a number of library music discs for the Parisian Patchwork label in the 1970s but achieved greater success with his kitsch trumpet pastiches using the moniker Claude Dauray.