Sablon, Jean

▪ 1995

      French singer and songwriter (b. March 25, 1906, Nogent-sur-Marne, near Paris, France—d. Feb. 24, 1994, Cannes-la-Bocca, France), was an elegant crooner whose matinee-idol looks (enhanced by his trademark thinly clipped mustache), mellow baritone voice, and intimate use of a microphone charmed audiences in the U.S. and Europe and earned him the nickname "the French Bing Crosby." Sablon made his professional debut in a Parisian operetta in 1923, and by 1931 he was a sought-after cabaret and music-hall singer. In the 1930s he added popular jazz recordings to his repertoire. He also toured and sang regularly on the radio in England, Brazil, and the U.S., where he was performing when World War II broke out in 1939. On his return to Europe (1945), he was initially derided for his Americanized style and dubbed "the singer without a voice" because of his use of the newfangled microphone, but his romantic vocals soon won over French audiences. Sablon gave his last public performance in Rio de Janeiro in 1983, two years after marking his 75th birthday with a concert at New York City's Lincoln Center.

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