Gay Jazz blossoms in Europe – GALLAVIN is Mad About The Boy
It is one of the eastern suburbs of the city of Lausanne, located on the shores of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) and at the foot of the vineyards of Lavaux on the road to Vevey and Montreux.
Pully Switerland….
Pully is a municipality in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron.
Gallavin swings with the boundaries of genders. Independent jazz singer, Gallavin releases his first music video of “Mad about the Boy”, Noël Coward most famous song.
JAZZ AND GAY…With the participation of the artists-travesties of the Cabaret-Bar “Chez Maman” in Brussels, the Anglo-Swiss jazz singer plays with the social norms, and offers a music video rich of identities but also sexual diversities.
In the velvet world of vocal jazz, no one was expecting that the song of Noël Coward Mad about the Boy, mostly known for Dinah Washington’s interpretation, could be once sung by a man.
And yet, it seems that Noël Coward had in fact written that song for his long term partner Graham Payn, a South-African actor. Gallavin intends, through his interpretation, to give the song its original essence back, and places himself beyond the traditional values of vocal jazz where one is either a “Crooner” or a “Diva”.
Willing to question the social norms of a musical world rather conservative, Gallavin casts the artists-travesties of the legendary Cabaret-Bar “Chez Maman” in Brussels. They become the time of the song the main characters blurring the lines between genders and sexual attraction, and opening a world where girls, who are actually boys, are mad about a boy who is in love with a girl, who was once a boy…
The music video of Mad about the Boy can be seen on Gallavin’s Internet website Gallavin.com or on Gallavin’s Youtube page Youtube.com/user/MrGallavin.
Steven William Derendinger (- Gallavin) was born on the 27th September 1975 in Sierre. Swiss and British, he grew up in Lausanne where he studied at the University of Lausanne and was graduated
with a Master of Arts (MA).
He began to sing as an autodidact and took part in different local musical productions. He formed the jazz band “Late Nights” in 1999, with which he performed in different
venues such as the Cully Jazz Festival. He recorded previously in 1996 a demo album with seven original songs with his band “Mind the Sun.”
In parallel, Steven committed as a volunteer for the LGBT rights where he worked from August 2004 until March 2010 as president of the Association VoGay in the canton Vaud. He appeared formerly in
2000 in the publication of Stéphane Riethauser, “A visage découvert”. In 2003, Steven worked for his final academic paper on “the linguistic insecurity of gay men in western Switzerland”. This paper was
published twice. (Michael Groneberg, « L’homme – créature sexuelle », 2006, et Christophe Bareille, « Homosexualité : révélateur social ? », 2010).
Beside his associative commitments, Steven worked on the promotion of gay men’s health. In April
2005, he began his career as a scientist collaborator in the AIDS unit of the Federal Office of Public Health in Bern, where he became quickly project manager for HIV prevention among gay men and male prostitution in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Steven never left his musical activities and defined in 2008 the project Mad about the Boy, which he produced independently in 2009, and released in 2010.
For Steven, this debut album articulates one decade of involvement in the LGBT rights and the promotion of gay men’s health with his solo career as an independent jazz singer under the name of Gallavin.
With the album Mad about the Boy, Gallavin places himself beyond the stereotypes of “Crooner or
Diva” in jazz. Through his interpretation, Gallavin gives to some of the greatest jazz songs their
original essence back. Noël Coward’s song Mad about the Boy – mostly known for Dinah
Washington’s interpretation – was written, for instance, for his long term lover, Graham Payn, a South African actor. Cole Porter – authors of the most known American vocal jazz songs – was also homosexual. The consideration of his homosexuality opens then infinite new fields of interpretation of his work. Gallavin offers with Mad about the Boy, an intimate and sometimes fragile album. Orchestrated by Pierre Sottas, the album is open to all vocal jazz lovers regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! BUY OR DOWNLAOD AT iTUNES
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