Edith Piaf reincarnates during live performance at Sonoma’s Sebastiani Theatre

Racking your brain for a Christmas present idea for your beloved music fan? Tickets to the Sebastiani Theatre’s upcoming 2 p.m. matinee show on Sunday, Dec. 4, might just be, ahem… the ticket. On that afternoon, SonoMusette presents “Edith Piaf, Beyond Paris Skies.”

The talented Santa Rosa based band, SonoMusette, is fronted by the excellent vocalist Mimi Pirard. She runs her band through material that will transport the listener back to the mid 1900’s, with songs of Charles Aznavour and, of course, “The Little Sparrow,” Edith Piaf.

Pirard herself was born in France, raised by a “particular, peculiar” French father and an America mother. Growing up just outside of Paris, Pirard heard the songs of mid-century France being played in her home from a very early age.

She moved to Sonoma County when she was 17. Here, she heard a very different kind of popular music.

Pirard has been a singer all her life. In addition to her gig with SonoMusette, she sings in another local band, with her brother Gabe, called “Djiin” that plays music from New Orleans swing to French chanson, and Salsas and Cumbias to roma hot jazz.

But on the first Sunday in December, Pirard becomes Piaf. Joining her onstage that afternoon channeling the superb styling of the best musiciens parisiens, will be Robert Lunceford playing accordion, Jan Martinelli on bass and piano, Isaac Vandeveer playing guitar and bass and local drummer extraordinaire Kendrick Freeman playing the drums.

It was the idea of Lunceford to spin off from Djiin, who is also a member, and expand on a few on the few Piaf songs that band played and focus on that style. Pirard was game from the get-go.

Those songs were of her parent’s era. But Pirard, realized that, when she grew “a little bit older,” the songs were “a part of my culture and my identity. I realized I really loved those songs,” Pirard said.

Pirard explained that they will play one set of Piaf focused material, followed by another set of a similar genre music. A mix of other mid-century artists and some original songs will complete the second set.

Pirard spoke about the process she uses to write the songs they perform. Lunceford typically composes the music, she explained, “he’ll send me music he’s written. I’ll listen to it, then I will go back into my writings and look for something catchy, or a feeling that is right for that song…then I come up with the text (of the song). But then sometimes I listen to a song and say. ‘I totally know what I’m going to write for this song,’ so go figure.”

When Pirard is not writing or performing her songs, or fronting a great band, she teaches French at Mario Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa. That constant input of sound, albeit pleasant, takes its toll on a person. When asked what kind of music she listens to, she thoughtful and somewhat quietly said, "...silence. My life is so busy and hectic. And if I am listening to music, it is something that I am working on, something that I am learning (to play)." Pirard, a parent, added, “My daughter listens to a whole lot of electronica stuff that is unbearable to me, so I vie for silence.”

Pirard mentioned the pleasure of that silence, and said, “It’s nice to meet up with yourself a little bit.”

Edith Piaf is still one of France’s more popular cultural exports. Her very distinctive style of singing, and her voice, is still heard in cafes in the fashionable “arrondissements” in Paris.

Born Edith Gassion, she adopted the nickname “Piaf” as she was only 4’8’’ tall. “Piaf” means “sparrow” in French.

Piaf was already a huge star in her native France when WWII broke out. Her career was not negatively affected by the war, in fact, her popularity grew, perhaps out of a sense of nationalism. She became one of the most popular singers in France and later a big international star.

After a very successful and lengthy singing career, her first record was released in 1937 when Piaf was only 18, the little sparrow died 1963 and was buried in Paris’s Pere Lachaise Cemetery. She was only 47 years old.

She specialized in singing “chansons,” or ballads. Her most enduring songs are “Non, he ne regrette rein,” (No, I don’t regret anything) and “La Vie en Rose” (Life in Pink). Those stirring and memorable songs will be featured prominently in the concert at the Sebastiani.

“SonoMusette presents Edith Piaf: Beyond Paris Skies” should be an enchanting conveyance back to a prosperous black and white filmed time. Before you can count un, deux, trois, you might find yourself sipping an aperitif along the Champs de Elysees.

Tickets to the Dec. 4 show will cost $25 and can be obtained by visiting sebastianitheatre.com. Sebastiani Theatre, 476 First St. E., Sonoma. Inquiries can be made by calling 707-996-9765.