[Download MP3] - Josephine Baker: J'ai Deux Amours

Chanteuse, Cabaret Star, and Cause Celebre Josephine Baker is paid homage with this exhilarating collection of 18 of her classic songs and stirring music. Remastered from original recordings, this Arkadia Chansons album, Josephine Baker: J’ai Deux Amours, showcases the alluring, seductive, and individual sound that captivated Paris and flaunts Josephine Baker in all her glory.

Born in St. Louis, Baker worked as a maid before she began dancing for tips on the streets. She was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show, before joining the Dixie Steppers Vaudeville troupe, which took her to New York City, where she soon rose to minor local stardom. She moved to Paris, still in her teens, and began performing shows that combined singing, dancing, and comedy into a sensual, erotic, and highly impressive act that captivated Parisian audiences. She became a legendary symbol of the American in Paris, those artists and intellectuals who flocked to France during the Jazz Age, becoming a muse for notable celebrities such as Langston Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, Christian Dior, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Pablo Picasso.

A woman of many nicknames (the Bronze Venus, the Black Pearl, the Créole Goddess, La Baker, and she was often referred to as the Most Beautiful of Panthers), Josephine Baker was an important cultural figure as well. Besides lending her support to the American Civil Rights movement and speaking at the famous March on Washington (she was the only woman to speak), she was the first female black performer to star in a major feature film and to perform for an integrated audience in the United States. Her participation in the French resistance during WWII earned her the honor of being the first American woman to ever receive France’s Croix de Guerre, the country’s highest Military honor, and General Charles de Gaulle made her a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur.

Josephine Baker is idolized around the globe for her amazing voice, risqué performances, sexual appeal, philanthropic efforts, and societal involvement. This album, Josephine Baker: J’ai Deux Amours (also available on CD), immortalizes both the singer and her enticing music.