“Old Europe” by Koldo Barroso

This work is part of the project book that I’m preparing which will compile a collection of illustrations inspired by songs from different renowned musicians and lyricists.

For a long time I was completely fascinated by a song by Robert Wyatt that I would keep listening to over and over. The song is called ‘Old Europe’ and it was released in his latest album ‘Cuckooland’ in 2003. The lyric was written by Robert’s wife Alfreda Benge and it relates the love affair between trumpetist Miles Davis and French singer/actress Juliette Greco in Paris in 1949.

Sketch of Juliette Greco

Being a Miles Davis fan myself, I oftently listen to his recordings from the late 40’s. I like to imagine how the bohemian atmosphere in Paris must have been at the time, just walking down the streets of Paris and listening to the sound of Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie coming out from the tiny clubs. In the sleeve notes of Robert Wyatt’s album, there are some indications about the haunting legendary places portrayed in the song, such as Le Chat qui Peche in the Rue de la Huchette and St Germain in Rue St Benoit.

When I decided to get into this old love story between Miles and Juliette, I started seeing very clearly in my mind the picture of the ghost of an old love affair haunting the streets of Paris. I’ve never been in Paris, which is a pity since I’ve travelled across the country South to North. I tried to imagine how the atmosphere of the streets in those days were and tried to portrait a picture of Rue de la Huchette.

I did some homework research and found several posters from Paris in 1949, which I pictured on the walls in the final painting. This is one of my favourite parts of the work: researching and playing detective for a while, just to get all the elements I need to put together the final scene. I also watched some videos from Juliette Greco, whose music I didn’t really know very much before this and now I love too. So, I tried to portrait her body language for the romantic scene and I was lucky enough to find this beautiful posture of her hands laying on her neck: the gesture of a woman in of being love.

Sketch of Miles Davis

Apart from the delicious old school jazz thing that Robert created in this song, I love how the lyrics drive me to the love scene like in a little tour, making me feel like a voyeur who watches the ghost of an old romance from the shades. I wanted to capture this feeling in the painting. On top of it, Alfreda did a really descriptive portrait of the scene with her words, with hints to colors and shapes. I like the most the sentences: ‘The ghosts of two people in love’ and ‘Always dreams of yesterdays. Those days live on safely in my heart’. That is exactly what haunted me the most about the song and the story. I wanted to capture the way I’ve felt very often myself about certain places and past events. Sadly, the romance between Miles and Juliette ended when they moved to the US, that’s why the song is called ‘Old Europe’. Now, the remembering of this love brings me a strange feeling of melancholy, almost painful but pleasant. The same feeling that makes me feel mesmerised with the same 4 bars from the song.

Sometime after I finished this work, I posted it on a personal page I have in Myspace and then I got an unexpected message from Alfreda Benge telling me she had seen it. I got completely astonished. She was really nice and told me that she and Robert like the painting very much. She said I got to capture her words on the painting, which I consider the best compliment I could get. She also told me that she and Robert, although not together at the time, they used to go to Paris in the late 40’s and they both have really beautiful memories of it. That made me feel in a way just like if the painting was coming alive!

If you like old jazz or Robert Wyatt I really recommend you this album, ‘Cuckooland’ and I invite you to get haunted by ‘Old Europe’. I’m including the lyrics here so you can get into the story if you feel like it.

Always dreams of yesterdays…

Old Europe

Le Chat qui Peche,
Rue de la Huchette.
Paris at night,
and the strains of a ghost saxophone.

Juliette and Miles
Black and white city.
Paris by night,
and the ghosts of two people in love.

I’ll be dreaming again,
always dreams of yesterdays.
Those days live on,
safe here in my heart.

Cherchez la femme,
slips through a doorway,
out of the night
to the warmth of a new lover’s arms.

Rue St Benoit.
La route enchantee.
Indigo nights,
and the ghost of the moon in the Seine.

I’ll be dreaming again,
always dreams of yesterdays.
Those days live on,
safe here in my heart.

Words by Alfreda Benge, 2003