# Gus Viseur

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Gus Viseur Born Gustave Joseph Viseur (1915-05-17)17 May 1915 Lessines, Belgium Died 25 August 1974(1974-08-25) (aged 59) Le Havre, France Occupation Accordionist

**Gustave Joseph Viseur** (17 May 1915 – 25 August 1974)[note 1] was a Belgian/French [accordionist](/source/Accordion).

## Early life

Viseur was born in [Lessines](/source/Lessines), Belgium, on 17 May 1915.[1] His father was a bargeman, so the family moved around a lot until 1920, when they settled in Paris.[2] Viseur was given basic instruction in how to play the accordion by his father from the age of eight, and then had lessons from a music professor.[2] Father and son played together in an amateur band from 1929.[2] After his father died,[2] Viseur "began performing on the streets of Paris in fairs and markets".[3]

## Later life and career

In the early 1930s, Viseur played second accordion under bandleader Médard Ferrero.[2] In 1933, he met René "Charley" Bazin, and the two accordionists started improvising, inspired by hearing jazz.[2] This led to Viseur forming his own band in 1935.[2] It played in a variety of styles and recorded four tunes that year.[2] "Viseur had the reeds in his Fratelli Crosio accordion filed down and retuned", which replaced the traditional vibrato of a musette accordion with a more modern sound.[4]

Viseur "was a member of the orchestra led by the pianist Boris Sarbek, then worked in France and Belgium with [Philippe Brun](/source/Philippe_Brun_(musician)), [Joseph Reinhardt](/source/Joseph_Reinhardt), and his own quintet".[1] Together with guitarist [Baro Ferret](/source/Baro_Ferret), Viseur added elements of swing to traditional musettes that they played from 1938 and into World War II.[5] He had more public attention after recording "[L'Accordéoniste](/source/L'Accord%C3%A9oniste)" with singer [Édith Piaf](/source/%C3%89dith_Piaf) in 1940.[6]

He toured the United States in 1963, then stopped playing and opened a record shop in [Le Havre](/source/Le_Havre).[1] He started performing again around 1970,[1] and recorded the album *Swing Accordéon* the following year.[7] Viseur died in Le Havre on 25 August 1974.[1]

## Representative recordings

- "Flambée montalbanaise"

- "Joseph, Joseph"

- "Automne"

- "Confessin'"

- "Douce joie"

- "Josette"

- "L'imprévu" (with Joseph Colombo)

- "Nuit de Paris" (with [Tony Muréna](/source/Tony_Mur%C3%A9na))

- "Soir de dispute"

- "Souvenir de Bruxelles"

- "Swing accordéon"

- "Swing-valse" (with [Pierre "Baro" Ferret](/source/Pierre_Ferret))

- "La valse des niglos"

- "Le Bal du p'tit jardin"

- "Jeannette"

- "46ème avenue"

- "5 Juin"

- "El Victor"

- "Lorsque Django jouait"

- "De Clichy à Broadway"

## See also

- [Medard Ferrero](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medard_Ferrero&action=edit&redlink=1)

- [El Ferrero](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El_Ferrero&action=edit&redlink=1)

- [Jo Privat](/source/Jo_Privat)

- [Guerino and his orchestra](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Guerino_and_his_orchestra&action=edit&redlink=1)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** These details are from Grove.[1] Dregni gives his name as "Joseph Gustave Viseur" and his date of birth as 15 May 1915.[2]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Grove_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Grove_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Grove_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Grove_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Grove_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Grove_1-5) Pernet, Robert (2003). "Viseur, Gus(tave Joseph)". *Grove Music Online*. Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J468300](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgmo%2F9781561592630.article.J468300).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155_2-8) [Dregni 2008](#CITEREFDregni2008), p. 155.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-AM_4-0)** Johnson, Zac. ["Gus Viseur"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gus-viseur-mn0000542416/biography). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved 8 March 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008155–156_5-0)** [Dregni 2008](#CITEREFDregni2008), pp. 155–156.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni200899–100,_156_6-0)** [Dregni 2008](#CITEREFDregni2008), pp. 99–100, 156.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008157_7-0)** [Dregni 2008](#CITEREFDregni2008), p. 157.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDregni2008161_8-0)** [Dregni 2008](#CITEREFDregni2008), p. 161.

**Bibliography**

- Dregni, Michael (2008). *Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing*. Oxford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-531192-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-531192-1).

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Japan Italy Norway Latvia Poland Finland Belgium 2 Artists MusicBrainz 2 Discography of American Historical Recordings Other IdRef SNAC

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