Born: February 23, 1933 - Saïda, Saïda, , near Oran, Algeria
Died: March 18, 2014 - Paris, Île-de-France, France |
André Bénichou [AKA: André Fredy Bénichou, Andre' Benichou] was an Algerian-born, French classical and jazz guitarist, film soundtracks composer. He is considered to be an accomplished classical guitarist. In a parallel career as a soundtrack composer his fusion-jazz electric guitar stylings for such mid 1974 Jess Franco films, such as Exorcism; Les Gloutonnes (credited to Robert Viger) and Le Miroir Obscene; that same theme is played on the piano by the villain Radeck (Victor Mendes) and as a sort of acid-jazz guitar riff throughout the wild and crazy sexy Eurocrime comedy Les Grandes Emmerdeuses. Benichou also scored several Pierre Chevalier-directed comedies for Eurocine. He composed the soundtracks to the movies: Hommes de joie pour femmes vicieuses (1974) , Les Possédées du diable (1974), Le Jouisseur (1975), Les Emmerdeuses (1976), Furies sexuelles (1976), Le Désoeuvré (1977), L'Éventreur de Notre-Dame (1979), La Pension des surdoués (1980), and for the TV Series Méthanie (1982). Possibly the most memorable of his compositions is the hypnotic and sinister sexual/emotional turbulence evoked by his electric guitar playing the same series of notes over and over and over again at increasingly elevated pitches on the soundtrack of Les Possedees Du Diable.
André Bénichou is remembered by classical music connoisseur's and rare album collectors for his still sought after 1970 "Jazz Guitar Bach". |