Claude Nougaro (Toulouse, 9 September 1929 – Paris, 4 March 2004) was a French singer and poet. He was also a painter and illustrator. He began working as a journalist in Paris and composed songs for others. He was a very close friend of Georges Brassens, who helped him in his career. By 1962 he was already singing his own compositions, which brought him fame. He sang with Dalida, and worked with composer Michel Legrand. His texts are often provocative and sometimes risqué. He worked with jazz pianist Maurice Vander and he was surrounded by such prestigious French jazz musicians as Eddy Louiss, René Nan, Pierre Michelot and Michel Colombier. Ornette Coleman and Marcus Miller also worked with him. Inspired by the events of May 1968, he created Paris mai, which was banned. In 1984, in New York, he wrote and recorded Nougayork, which was a great success. In 1995 he became ill and had to have a heart operation. He contributed to an album to help children suffering from AIDS. Between 2003 and 2004 he began work on the jazz album La note bleue but he was unable to finish it.
He died at the age of 74, and his funeral was held in Toulouse, in the Basilica of Saint-Sernin. His ashes were scattered on the River Garonne. A municipal park and a metro station have been named after him. His work had a personal style inspired by American jazz musicians like Charles Mingus and Louis Armstrong and also by Brazilian music (Baden Powell -https: //es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden_Powell_de_Aquino- and Chico Buarque).
Discography: Claude Nougaro (1962); Claude Nougaro n. 2 (1964); Bidonville (1966); Petit taureau (1967); Une soirée avec Claude Nougaro (1969), recorded live at the Olympia in Paris; Sœur âme (1971); Locomotive d’or (1973); Récréation (1974); Femmes et famines (1975); Plume d’ange (1976); Claude Nougaro (1977), recorded live at the Olympia in Paris; Tu verras (1978); Nougaro 79 (1979); Assez (1980); Chansons nettes (1981); Au New Morning (1982); Ami chemin (1983); Bleu blanc blues (1985); Nougayork (1987); Pacifique (1989); Une voix dix doigts (1991); Chansongs (1993); Grand angle sur (1994); L’enfant phare (1997); Homme et Lumière (1998), recorded live in Toulouse; Embarquement immédiat (2000), and La note bleue (2004), released posthumously.