Gérard Bertrand: Hello everyone, this is the seventh live Wine, Food and Music event. We are on the 29th of May, we are at Château l'Hospitalet, and we have the privilege of welcoming a multi-talented guest, as he is at once a crooner, a writer, a comedian and a man of the theatre. Welcome to Michel Leeb. 

Michel Leeb: Hello, how are you? 

Gérard Bertrand: Couldn't be better, I'm very happy to have you here and let me introduce our chef Laurent Chabbert who has been doing virtual cooking for three months, from Tuesday 2nd June he is opening his kitchens and we can't wait. So if you're in the area — because I know you're in Provence, you're not very far — if you're in the Languedoc, you're welcome. In fact, he has put together both the spring, autumn, summer and winter menus, he worked a great deal during those four months.

So how is the lockdown going then? Or the deconfinement for that matter. 

Michel Leeb: But yes, because that's it — we've all been locked up for two and a half months but fortunately I put that period of parenthesis to work for writing, so I wrote, I wrote a play, I wrote my next show which I worked on a great deal. I worked a lot and there we go, so now we've been deconfined, we're going to start little by little breathing again, living again, finding friends we love, our families and so on and so forth, and things will start up again. There we go, it's an incredibly strange, curious, anxiety-inducing period for many people but now I think life must start up again, more than before, probably. 

Gérard Bertrand:  So Michel, can we still maintain one tradition — that of raising a toast to your future successes. We're going to taste together the Ballerine, which is a crémant de Limoux rosé that I sent out on lees.

Michel Leeb: I have some here.

Gérard Bertrand: There we go, so we're going to start by having a drink, Michel, aren't we? It's time.

Michel Leeb : Yes I think it's time, that's what matters most.

Gérard Bertrand: Cheers, Michel.

Michel Leeb: Cheers

Gérard bertrand : Cheers

Michel Leeb: Cheers

Gérard bertrand: And to the health of all the viewers watching us.

Michel Leeb: There we go, and who are watching us.

Gérard Bertrand: Exactly.

So the chef started with the amuse-bouche, Michel.

What did the chef suggest today?

Chef Laurent Chabert : So to accompany the Ballerine, I've made a vegetarian Rolls with carrot, cucumber, a little garden salad, radish, beetroot done as pickles, there's also celery, and on the other side we've done a turnip sliced very thinly. And here, I'm going to add some nasturtium leaves for a peppery taste. 

Michel Leeb: You can't hear well — I'd rather he showed me because I can't hear anything

Gérard Bertrand: Go on, come closer, he's going to show you.

Chef Laurent Chabert: So this is a small vegetable medley with lots of little nasturtium flowers and nasturtium leaves.

Gérard Bertrand : That's my little privilege, Michel, I'm sorry.

Michel Leeb: It's a shame because I really fancy some. 

Chef Laurent Chabert: Fleur de sel, olive oil, it's fresh, actually it's for the summer.

Gérard Bertrand: Well you know, it's very good to whet one's appetite like that, Michel. I remember an anecdote. My father, who passed away thirty years ago now, was a fan of yours, and so I was in a restaurant with him in Provence, I can't remember exactly where, and with my mother. And he said to me, look, there's Michel Leeb over there, you gave him a big smile and it made his evening, because you already had quite a few years of career behind you at that point. What fascinates me is that you first became known through comedy. But music — is that what you love the most? What is it that truly transcends you among all the talents you have?

Michel Leeb: You know, I love very much what I do when I'm doing it. So when I'm performing in a play, for instance, right now soon with Pierre Arditi, I'm in my element. When I sing at the Hospitalet with Big Bands, Dominique Rieux, I'm in my element. When I do a one-man show on my own and I tell all sorts of stories, I do impressions, gags, sketches and all that, I'm in my element. When I eat good food, I'm in my element. When I drink a glass, I'm in my element. When I live, I'm in my element.

Gérard Bertrand: So whose disciple are you? Epicurus?

Michel Leeb: And yes, and of course, that's life — you have to make the most of everything you have.

Gérard Bertrand: But what did you start with, Michel — theatre or music?

Michel Leeb: I started with theatre and then I moved on to one-man shows. And music, which was part of my life and still is, I said to myself, one day I have to do something on stage but musically. So I did a jazz concert with two or three musicians and then there were four, five, six, there were Big Bands that I had the chance to encounter when I took charge of the Nice jazz festival.

Gerard Bertrand: I saw that.

Michel Leeb: There you go, over several years I met all the musicians I adored when I was a kid. I was a jazz fan all the time, my whole life, so when I had the chance to meet all those musicians, and in particular the Cambezi musicians, oh my goodness. Ask any jazz musician who Cambezi is, and you'll see those guys will do backflips. So I went to see them, I said I'd love to make an album with them. He said "what"? I said I'd really love to make an album with them. He told me, right, go back to school. I said wait, wait, let me give you two or three examples. I started humming things in front of them, they said well you know what, if you've got the courage, we'll step up — as they say, we'll own it — and well listen, you see, we'll take you on tour. And I went on tour with them. We made an album and when you tour with that band, well listen, after that, well after…

Gérard Bertrand : So we're pleased because you're sitting at your piano there — can we go on tour right now? 

Michel Leeb: Yes, well, I'll play you a little something, wait, I'll do like this, there we go — can you see the piano? 

Gérard Bertrand : Yes, I can see it very well. 

Michel Leeb:  But you can no longer see me.

Gérard Bertrand : We can see you fine there, all good.

Michel Leeb: Wait, so I'm going to play you a little something.

  "It's Gérard Bertrand's blues, he likes it from time to time, he's a big child, and his music is his tomatoes and his carrots. Music is the cuisine of Chef Chabert — me, I love Bertrand, he moans all the time, it does you good, a guy like that who brings happiness to all the people who come to eat here all the time, oh yeah." 

Gérard Bertrand : Thank you Michel for that improvised intro, there we go, we can see you clearly now. So that's what's wonderful about jazz, it's that improvisation is total. And even if there was a framework, we have extraordinary examples. The one who impressed me the most, right here, you know, it was Maceo Parker who was James Brown's saxophonist and he came twice: the first time he came, he played for three hours. He played a 21-minute saxophone piece, everyone was in a trance, it was extraordinary. And you, among the Americans, what are your top two or top three references?

Michel Leeb: It's difficult, there's Coltrane, Rollins, Malzéville, Oscar Peterson, Buddy Rich, all the Big Bands, Cambezzi, Duke Ellington. As for singers, there's one singer like no other and that's Sinatra, he's the only one and all the others are amateurs. And of course there are female singers too, one female singer like no other, that's of course Fitzgerald, Diana Krall whom I love very much, and then when it comes to French singers there are some wonderful French singers. I had a marvellous friend who is no longer with us, and that was Charles Aznavour, and Charles Aznavour was, for me, the French Sinatra if you will, and well, there are musicians…

Gérard Bertran: I am impressed by James Brown's voice.

Michel Leeb: Yes of course I love it, I love it.

Gérard Bertrand : Did you see when he sang with Pavarotti?

Michel Leeb: Yes, it was magnificent.

Gérard Bertrand : It was extraordinary.

Michel Leeb : Magnificent, and I love the way he moves on stage, you know — Michael Jackson was greatly inspired by James Brown, greatly inspired.

Gérard Bertrand : Exactly, and Michel, they say you move on stage just as well as James Brown.

Michel Leeb : Yes yes yes of course yes yes yes. Mind your own business there.

Gérard Bertrand : No, it's true — with your friend you were talking about, Dominique Orieut, so he went on tour with you and it's one of his best memories, because he says that with you, Michel, it's before, during and after, so you have to keep that conviviality, that good humour. And I remember that before the concert you had dinner with us at château l'Hospitalet in 2007 and you had a glass of wine. Is that something you often do before going on stage, or not?

Michel Leeb : Yes, I always drink a glass of wine before going on stage because it's very good for the vocal cords. The tannin helps to lubricate, so to speak, the vocal cords — you see what I mean?

Gérard Bertrand : Yes, so I have many memories because after the concert you get the chance to have a drink together with the artists, and there are two in particular — one was with George Benson, because he came and was extraordinary, and he told me a bit about his life, and then he said: you know, I only drink chardonnay. So we opened a bottle, he finished it, he was in great form, and he told me about his life. After the concert he sang again in his dressing room — it was a great moment. And the second was with Zucchero, because in fact he said to me "I want to eat, I'm hungry" — it was because actually he hadn't eaten, and so we spent three hours eating. We brought him some ham because he's from Parma, or nearby, and so we had an evening like that, and it's true that there's a lot of conviviality with artists because when you've finished there's a kind of release, isn't there? So you're hungry and you want a drink.

Michel Leeb : When I was running the Nice festival we had set up a stage in an olive grove, a vast grove that could hold 10,000 people, and we had built the stage but of course we had to be careful not to damage the olive trees, and we had placed the stage in a spot where there was an olive tree that couldn't be touched. It was the only place where the stage could go. So the olive tree was in the middle of the stage, artists came through, lots of musicians, singers — Joe Cocker, Al Jarreau, James Brown, all these people, all these people came through, and one of them arrived and said: right, let me tell you, there is no way I am going to sing with an olive tree on the stage.

Gérard Bertrand : Your Toulouse friend.

Michel Leeb : My Toulousain friend — I said to him, Claude, I can't do autrement. Out of the question, I told him, but look Claude, I can't — Joe Cocker came, Phil Collins, they all came — honestly, you can't do this to me. Right then, I'll tell you what — I'm willing to sing on the condition that you send me litres and litres of oil from that olive tree. And I kept my word — I sent him as much oil as I could from that olive tree. There wasn't a huge amount, but I did it, and he sang, and he was a great hit, dear Claude whom we love.

Gérard Bertrand : We have a particular connection because actually Claude Nougaro was also a bit Catalan and he had a house in Tautavel, in the Roussillon — the Tautavel man — but as it's the wine we promote in the world he came there often, so that accent you're doing, that's really him, and you can see the comedian coming out.

Michel Leeb : And yes, I've done impressions, so many impressions that it's become part of my thing.

Gérard Bertrand : So chef, what are we going to have now?

Michel Leeb : ah, the chef

Chef Laurent Chabert : So right now, I'm finishing my courgette dish.

Michel Leeb : What's terrible is that we're not going to eat it ourselves.

Gérard Bertrand : So Michel, what's your favourite dish? What do you like to cook yourself?

Michel Leeb : Right, I'll tell you, you're going to be very disappointed because my favourite dish is an incredibly simple thing — it's spaghetti Napoletana.

Gérard Bertrand : It's good, actually.

Michel Leeb : Yes it's very good but obviously I'm not — well, I have a friend, Pierre Arditi, I can tell you he is a great specialist, as you obviously know, he must have even come to visit you.

Gérard Bertrand: But he only drinks Bordeaux so he's great but he really ought to start drinking wines from the Languedoc and Provence, don't you think?

Michel Leeb : But he has so many qualities — in any case, food, that he knows about, I can tell you he is just as talented, because he cooks himself, I don't cook.

Gérard Bertrand : So Michel is going to come closer because — just look at the beauty of this dish.

Michel Leeb : Bravo! So what exactly is it?

Chef Laurent Chabert : So the courgette flower was stuffed with a fine stuffing of meagre — it's a Mediterranean fish — then inside I added a little smoked mullet, savory flowers and chive flowers. Then we cooked it in steam, steam of rosemary, thyme, all the herbs you find in La Clape, a little lemon here, then a carpaccio of courgette on top, and courgettes and olives just pan-fried.

Gérard Bertrand: So Michel, I'll tell you, these are local produce and garden ingredients that are organic, grown using biodynamic farming, and in partnership with all the local producers, so he works only with organic products and it's true that it's better when you can do it.

Michel Leeb : My wine is organic.

Gérard Bertrand: We'll talk about it.

Michel Leeb: But that's not very kind of you because we're here, we can't even taste anything, I like the show but…

Gérard Bertrand : That's why we're going to invite you, Michel — we'll raise a glass with the Château Hospitalet white, there we go, the new vintage, so here, actually it's a nod to remind you of those wonderful moments in 2007 when you came. Because I remember that you had asked for a good glass of Château Hospitalet red, so there we go — across the various estates you can see we try to showcase these terroirs and it really is a magnificent terroir, La Clape.

Michel Leeb : It's truly magnificent.

Gérard Bertrand : It goes very well with the dish but I'm not going to have the cheek to taste it, Michel, because I can see you're drooling, so if on top of that I taste it… I'll taste it a little later but Michel, I've been told you have a vintage as prestigious as Romanée-Conti, which is the most exclusive wine in the world.

Michel Leeb : Well, I'm going to tell you about it — I have one hectare and one hundred of a wine I call the Clos du Tilleul. It's on my property, because there is an enormous linden tree that shelters this vineyard, and it is a very rare wine. It's a wine that is not financially accessible, and it is remarkable because it is a wine — it's grenache — and it is exceptional. It's an extremely rare wine, but there are still around a hundred bottles for friends.

Gérard Bertrand : So you drink 4,900 of them a year then.

Michel Leeb : I get through 4,900 in a year — it's not me drinking them all, it's operated by a big company.

Gérard Bertrand : friends of yours

Michel Leeb : There you go, it's called Oreto, it's a company that's doing very well here, a wine-growing company, and it's really very good and thanks to them I was able to work this vineyard more, to tend it, to run it fully, and they give me a gift of about a hundred bottles but it belongs to me.

Gérard Bertrand : Do you take part in the harvest a little?

Michel Leeb : No because I'm always out and about and I'm never there — sometimes I see them, they come because it's sustainable farming, it's really very good, very serious, it's organic and totally, like you.

Gérard Bertrand : That's a lovely name, the clos du tilleul.

Michel Leeb : the clos du tilleul

Gérard Bertrand : linden blossom — you could even write a song about it one day, perhaps.

Michel Leeb: But yes, but I'm not a songwriter.

Gérard Bertrand : In my opinion you wouldn't have to try very hard to get there.

Michel Leeb : It's my son who composes, you know.

Gérard Bertrand : I know, he's not too frustrated that there was no ranking for Eurovision.

Michel Leeb : Of course he did, but he said it was fine because it was the only year he wasn't at risk of not losing.

Gérard Bertrand : Yes, there were only winners.

Michel Leeb : There were only winners, so very good, so perhaps next year we'll see — in any case it still gave him quite a bit of publicity.

Gérard Bertrand : Yes, and has Tom and Fany, along with you, ever performed together in public?

Michel Leeb : So with my daughter Fany, I sang a few times — I had invited her, for example, to Paris at the Casino de Paris where I was performing, and she came to sing with me. Tom was also on stage with me, and besides, this coming Sunday we're doing a special leb at Drucker's, so it's being recorded next Tuesday and will be broadcast on the 28th of June. I'm doing a little advertising, but anyway.

Gérard Bertrand : That's nice, that's good.

Michel Leeb : And so we're doing a special with Leb, Tom, Fany and me.

Gérard Bertrand : And will all three of you be performing on stage there?

Michel Leeb : We're going to do something, all three of us.

Gérard Bertrand : Ah, that's nice because Julio Iglesias also has two sons who make music.

Michel Leeb : Ah yes, I know Julio very well, he's very kind, he had asked me to come with him, he said come with me, come with me, come with me to Argentina when I was very young and I didn't want to go there because I don't know it well, I don't speak Spanish very well. But Julio was there, he said, it made me happy and I like him very much because I did the opening act for Julio at the Olympia…

Gérard Bertrand : Ah yes and that's why I'm picking up on that because it's quite a phenomenon too — and what did it inspire in you? Because he really is an extraordinary stage performer.

Michel Leeb : But doing the opening act, doing the opening act for Julio Iglesias at the Olympia, that was extraordinary because I introduced myself — there was no presenter — I would go backstage and say: and now, ladies and gentlemen, for you this evening exclusively as the opening act for Julio Iglesias, the extraordinary Michel Leeb. I'd come out and people thought someone was introducing me, obviously I was having them on about that but it was fun, you have to manage as best you can at the beginning.

Gérard Bertrand : Because actually, I really love his music and his songs and one day I was watching, there we go…

Michel Leeb : I haven't changed — same old holey socks

Gérard Bertrand : I don't know if you know the anecdote but one day he was singing in Cadiz in Spain and it was raining, and at 10 o'clock in the evening they said it's raining, we can't play but stay there, Julio will come and the people were shouting Julio, Julio and they shouted like that until 5 o'clock in the morning, a torrential downpour fell and the concert took place between 6 o'clock in the morning and 9 o'clock in the morning and he said it was the most beautiful emotion he had ever experienced in his life because he had waited all night to be able to play and there were 5,000 people who got soaked to the bone.

Michel Leeb : And did he sing or not?

Gérard Bertrand : He did sing, yes.

Michel Leeb : At 5 o'clock in the morning?

Gérard Bertrand : Yes, it's extraordinary, I saw that report, it moved me, it was extraordinary and the people just kept shouting, just kept yelling.

Michel Leeb : I have other anecdotes — I had arrived in Grenoble, I was singing and doing my show, it was raining so heavily on the Place du Général de Gaulle in Grenoble, and would you believe, people had stayed in their cars, they hadn't got out of their cars because it was raining so much in front of the stage, there were, I don't know, 200/300 cars in front of the stage.

Gérard Bertrand : sunrise

Michel Leeb : But that was true and, well, would you believe it, I was forced to tell people can you hear me and he would flash his headlights — can you hear me? I said so if you applaud, you honk your horn, agreed, and if you laugh you turn on your windscreen wipers. I swear it's true, and at the end they wanted to leave but the car batteries were all dead.

Gérard Bertrand : Yes, not bad at all, you have so many anecdotes like that, it's extraordinary.

Michel Leeb : Oh my goodness, well that's this profession for you, if you only knew, I could tell you stories until tomorrow morning but we have other things to do.

Gérard Bertrand : And did you also do some impromptu concerts like that which went on for an eternity?

Michel Leeb : Well yes because, if you like, jazz — what is jazz? It's the exchange, and if the exchange goes well, it can last hours and hours and hours. You were telling me earlier about Maceo Parker's 26-minute solo — that means he was on form, so it can go on a long time. I've never managed to go beyond 6 or 7 hours of a show, never…

Gérard Bertrand : That's already good, at least…

Michel Leeb : no no no no but well…

Gérard Bertrand : Do you have the same preparation when you walk on stage for theatre? Is it more difficult or easier than walking on stage when you're going to perform music?

Michel Leeb : Making music — I find it harder to go on stage when I'm doing theatre rather than music because theatre, if you like, has a real rigour about it, which is not to say that there isn't rigour in music, but it's much more relaxed, there are possible improvisations, possible asides, you can do a thousand things depending on the situation — theatre is like rails you can't move off, and if you mess up you mess up the others too. Well, in music as well actually, but the exchange is not the same, it's not the same thing.

Gérard Bertrand : And aren't Arditi and the others a little scared that you might go a bit off-script and lose them?

 

Michel Leeb : Yes and that's a very good question, it's a very good question because I have a tendency to try to catch my friends off guard but it always goes very well because they have a sense of humour. Pierre has a wonderful sense of humour and he absolutely relishes that kind of thing, he's someone who loves to enjoy himself, and on stage, the first thing he said to me two days ago, even yesterday, he said I can't wait for us to start again so we can have fun.

Gérard Bertrand : That's brilliant, that's brilliant because indeed…

Michel Leeb : Because if you're not having fun, the audience won't have fun either.

Gérard Bertrand : Because I remember when you came for the — with the big brass band, you did some comedy, you couldn't help but engage with the audience, our friend the sub-prefect who was there — you gave him a bit of a hard time — so you are, you are in permanent interaction with the audience but within a strict framework like the theatre, because the audience can tell when you step outside the play, they can tell when you're improvising.

Michel Leeb : And he loves it.

Gérard Bertrand : He loves it because actually it makes the moment unique.

 

Michel Leeb : There you go, when you have fits of laughter and you mess up on stage, you know there are moments when you can no longer carry on, there are moments when you can no longer carry on because you're laughing so much that you can't move forward and the audience is in raptures, they're like mad things, and I remember one time — would you believe it — we were at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris, I was performing a very funny play called 3 Partout, a very funny play with lots of funny bits, it was a great hit, and would you believe that at one point, at one point, I shake hands with a chap you know very well, who is on television every single day, whose name is Gérard Hernandez, he's in a show on M6, I can't remember what it's called, I think it's something about couples who argue, I don't know, anyway, I shake his hand and as I shake his hand — and I was very elegant, very well dressed — I say hello, my name is Jean-François Thibault, and he says delighted and at the moment I shake his hand, I let one rip, and a good one at that. At that point, him, what do you want him to do? He says delighted and bursts out laughing, completely uncontrollably, and he says to me, he says this line because opposite us, across the theatre and on the other side of the boulevard, there was Jean Lefèvre performing a play, and he says: oh my goodness, and there's a lady in the front row who says: well done, Jean-Michel Lefèvre must have heard it, we brought the curtain down, we brought the curtain down because we couldn't carry on performing. Now those are moments — you might say it's not very refined — but at the same time when it happens and you can't hold back your laughter, well…

Gérard Bertrand : You know, I have a background as a rugby player — we didn't always go about things with great finesse either.

Michel Leeb : no but there you go

Gérard Bertrand : And those are the best moments, because you remember them and they become legends — you retell them afterwards. So Michel, look — the chef has carried on, look what he has cooked for you.

Michel Leeb : Oh, it's beautiful, it's beautiful, it's beautiful — so what is it?

Chef Laurent Chabert : So here, we've cooked the pork cheek from Catalonia — Catalan, near Perpignan — we braised it with thyme from La Clape for about 6 hours and with red wine, then a piperade I made on the side with yellow pepper, red pepper and tomatoes, a little onion and sebète, and then the sauce at the end which we reduced a little with a honey caramel.

Gérard Bertrand : So all these dishes will be on the menu, Michel, and I know you're coming in September with Pierre Arditi to Narbonne.

Michel Leeb : in October

 Gérard Bertrand : In October then, when you — if you stay with us, which we hope you will, you'll be our guests and so the chef, all his dishes will be on his menu this autumn, so you'll be able to truly taste them.

Michel Leeb : And do you cycle, Mr Chabert?

Chef Laurent Chabert : a little bit yes

Michel Leeb : Ah yes, that's nice because you have a lovely cap and I thought it was a cyclist's cap.

Gérard Bertrand : And yes, you know, first of all he's from the Allier. So his parents are farmers, they're livestock farmers, so that's why he knows his meat.

Michel Leeb : Ah well, that's good, keep it up.

Gérard Bertrand : So Michel, let's have a little drink. This is the last glass of the evening.

Michel Leeb : come on

Gérard Bertrand : So this is château la Soujeole which is in Malperre. So it's a great wine from the area around the Cité de Carcassonne, you know, this estate is special because we have Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec as in Bordeaux, and if you travel on Air France — we'll give them a plug right now because they really need it. You can drink it in business class like the Sigalus or the Château Hospitalet. So a little nod to our friends at Air France, hoping that the routes will open very soon so we can travel a little. Cheers, Michel.

Michel Leeb : Thank you for welcoming me into your home.

Gérard Bertrand : So can we finish with just three little musical notes, Michel, before we say goodbye? First I'd like to say a huge thank you, Michel, to tell you that this has been a great moment and that I hope to have you back — both the man but also the musician and the theatre performer, since you're going to come to Narbonne. I also wish you a good comeback with Pierre Arditi. You have — perhaps we can mention it — an upcoming play with Fany Cotennsson, Inavouable, which is going to start soon, isn't it?

Michel Leeb : which starts on 14th November in Paris

Gérard Bertrand : There we go, so you have a very packed schedule and I suppose that in 2021 you…

Come on, let's go back to talking about the festivals a little.

Michel Leeb : Absolutely, so I'll play you a little piece.

Gérard Bertrand : Thank you Michel, so we'll finish on a musical note and see you very soon.

Michel Leeb : See you very soon, goodbye Mr Chabert, thank you Gérard.

Gérard Bertrand : Until next Friday.

Michel Leeb : So I'll play you 3 little notes to say goodbye.

Gérard Bertrand: See you soon: thank you, see you very soon

Michel Leeb : hi