Ray Ventura facts for kids
Raymond Ventura (born in Paris, France, in 1908 and passed away in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 1979) was a famous French jazz pianist and bandleader. He played a big role in making jazz music popular in France during the 1930s. His nephew, Sacha Distel, also became a well-known singer!
A Musical Journey
Raymond Ventura started his musical path as a pianist in 1925 with a group called the Collegiate Five. This group later recorded music for big record companies like Columbia and Decca. Just a year later, Raymond became the leader of the band. He transformed it into a large dance orchestra, much like what we call a big band today. A big band is a large group of musicians who play jazz music, often with many brass and woodwind instruments. Some of the talented musicians who played with him included Alix Combelle, Philippe Brun, and Guy Paquinet.
In the early 1940s, Raymond Ventura led his big band on tours, including in South America. He continued to lead his popular band in France for the rest of that decade.
The Famous Song: "Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise"
One of his band's most famous songs from 1936 was "Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise" (which means "Everything is going very well, Madame la Marquise"). In this funny song, a noblewoman (the Marquise) is told by her servants that everything is fine at home. However, as the song goes on, it turns out many big problems are actually happening! People thought this song was a clever way to talk about how some people in France might not have been paying attention to serious events happening in the world at that time.
Films Featuring Raymond Ventura's Music
Raymond Ventura's music was also featured in several films. Here is a list of some of them:
- American Love (1931)
- Beautiful Star (1938)
- Whirlwind of Paris (1939)
- Prince Bouboule (1939)
- King Pandora (1950)
- Never Two Without Three (1951)
- Desperate Decision (1952)
- Women of Paris (1953)
- A Hundred Francs a Second (1953)
- Open Letter (1953)
- Stopover in Orly (1955)
- The Hotshot (1955)
- Forgive Us Our Trespasses (1956)
