Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes: Paix

Continuing my focus on artists who died in 2024, today I present a song by avant-garde French vocalist Catherine Ribeiro. She and her band Alpes recorded eight albums between 1970-80. They were an avant-garde band who mixed rock and folk with 20th century experimental composition. Ribeiro’s vocals range from low-key folk to frenetic aggression, depending on the music being performed. This is not music that was meant to sell millions of copies. This is avant-garde musical art at its finest. After the ’70s, Ribeiro continued to perform as a solo artist for the next 30 years. She died on August 23, 2024 at the age of 82. I usually stay away from extremely long songs for my posts, but I have selected the title track to the band’s 1972 album Paix because it deserves to be heard. After slowly building for over five minutes, Ribeiro suddenly enters with a spoken word section over a simply percussive bass/organ background. A swirling organ solo follows before the opening groove returns and slowly builds into a gorgeous vocal solo that ends with a dynamic bass/organ crescendo. Although the work of Ribeiro was ignored at the time outside of a small cult following of people who were lucky enough to find a copy of the limited vinyl pressings that existed, it is now available on streaming platforms for all to discover. This music is glorious.

To learn more about Catherine Ribeiro, check out her Wikipedia page.

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