Jean Louis Mahjun

Real name Jean-Louis Lefebvre, Jean-Louis Mahjun is a French rock, jazz and blues singer, violinist, guitarist and mandolinist. A high-school student, he first played guitar in the rock band Ultrasons, then founded the group Maajun, named after a Tunisian pastry shop. In 1971, they released the album Vive la Mort du Vieux Monde, featuring his brother Cyril Lefebvre, and later gaining a cult following with its follow-up "La Longue marche". Signed to the Saravah label, he renewed his band, now called Mahjun, which recorded two homonymous progressive rock and jazz albums in 1973 and 1974, with Jim Cuomo and Nana Vasconcelos on the second. The multi-instrumentalist accompanied the label's artists and continued with his musicians on Happy French Band (1977). Joining CBS, he released Par les Temps Qui Courent (1979) and, under the sole name of Mahjun, turned to synthetic new wave with Baby Sitter (1980) and Un Homme Sur Deux C'Est Une Femme (1982), both of which reached a wider audience with shorter-format songs. In a different register, the 1984 album Ce N'Est Que Moi, featuring three electric violins, was followed by the compilations 7 Ans de Mahjun (1986) and Mahjun (1991), which retrace the previous periods. A regular performer at festivals, the eclectic musician formed a partnership with blues guitarist Alain Giroux. The duo explored the blues, folk, jazz and country repertoires on the albums Rencontre du Deuxième Type (1992) and Just a Matter of Time (1993) released by New Rose Records, followed by Double Jeu (1996), Jail of Love (1999) and Two for the Show (2004), on Last Call Records.