Larger-than-life French rock star Bernard Lavilliers—a self-described "trafficker of metaphors, insurgent of the universe"—began singing at Left Bank cabarets in the '60s. He went on to alternate album releases with travel adventures that his music subsequently documented. Prone to speak-singing in a gruff voice, Lavilliers combines his love of poetry and commitment to leftist politics with a passion for tropical and African musical styles.