MAURANE

Belgium's Claude Maurane was the antithesis of the stereotypical jazz vocalist, eschewing the hard living and hard times so integral to the jazz mythos to celebrate the joys of motherhood and domestic life. Born Claudine Luypaerts in Ixelles on November 12, 1960, Maurane was the child of professional musicians. Raised on a steady diet of Bach and Debussy, she began studying violin at age eight, moving on to piano and guitar. Film musicals including West Side Story and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort proved her greatest inspiration, and in 1979 Maurane co-starred in the stage production Brel en Mille Temps. Her performance captured the attention of producer Pierre Barouh, and in 1980, she cut her debut single, "J'me Roule en Boule," for his famed Saravah label. Subsequent singles including "Fais Soleil,...