To get to know him better, let us go back in time: it all began in the late 1940s at the Harmonica Club, the CHARM, founded in 1945 by Albert Raisner. Jean, then a young student, was a regular there with his first trio, “Les Vagabonds de l'Hudson”, as soloist, with Robert Prouff on chord and, successively, Jean Bouhours and Marc Pero on bass.
In 1949, Borrah Minevitch asked him to join the new European line-up of the famous “Rascals”. But as he was still a minor, he had to turn down the offer, which his father opposed.
In 1951, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, he won the Coupe de France de l'Harmonica with his trio, renamed the “Trio Hudson”. Already noted for his mastery of every type of harmonica, he went on to win several trophies, among them the “Europe 1” Cup in 1953 with the Trio Gary (at the time: René Gary, soloist; Roger Lelièvre, chord; Jean Labre, bass).
In 1958 he was elected President of the CFH (Confédération Française de l'Harmonica), with René Gary as technical director and Albert Raisner as honorary president. In 1959, with René Gary and Claude Raguet (the new Trio Gary, performing for the occasion as “The Parisians”), he recorded his first records, two singles, in New York, where he was then living part of the time. The adventure of the Trio Gary came to an end with René Gary's death in 1987 (Claude Raguet passed away in 1992).
He joined SACEM, the French society of authors, composers and music publishers, as a songwriter in 1971 and as a publisher in 1979; 146 of his works are listed in its catalogue to date. He has also written poems and many songs… outside SACEM.
In 1973 the Trio Gary joined the “Hotvill's”. This partnership gave birth to the “New Hotvill's” and then, in 1977, to the “Philarmonica” ensemble, produced by the brand-new company P.S.B. (Productions Stéphanie Bertrand), the idea of his wife Danielle, an Air France flight attendant, who ran it together with Jean. Danielle Labre died in 1980. With PSB, he produced and art-directed many records: popular songs, ambient music, world music and more.
An Air France flight crew member for more than thirty years (with 22,995 flying hours to his credit), he saw his compositions broadcast on the airline's in-flight music channels. He left the company in 1985.
In 1990 he founded the “France Harmonica” association (now “Harmonicas de France Fédération”), of which he remains Founding President.
In 1991 he became Vice-President for Europe of the IHO (International Harmonica Organization) and its worldwide ambassador. A tireless traveller, he has taken part in most of the major harmonica events around the globe (Europe, Asia, USA, etc.)*; from then on, he has frequently sat on the juries of world harmonica championships and competitions.
During the 1990s he played as soloist, successively, in the trios “Hotvill's” and “Harmonica Swingers” (renamed “The Parisians” for the occasion).
In 2005 he formed the French-Japanese trio “Les Parisiens” (Nami Miyata, soloist; Maurice Bailly, bass; Jean Labre, chord).
His discography, from 1959 to the present day, counts 19 releases (four singles, seven LPs and nine CDs), listed below.
We hope this has helped you get to know Jean Labre a little better, and wish you a pleasant visit of this website.
