Singer Henri Salvador has died in Paris at the age of 90. The musician, said to have inspired the bossa nova, was known for his rich, booming laugh and elegant singing style. Born in French Guiana, he started out as a session musician, accompanying other singers on the guitar, before beginning a career as a vocalist himself. He recorded several songs arranged by the legendary Quincy Jones, and is credited with recording the first rock n roll song in French, a track written by Boris Vian and Michel Legrand. Salvador also had a TV career, hosting a number of programmes on French TV, and was among the first artists to set his music to images and film, meaning that he's often credited with helping to start the video promo tradition. He was planning to record a new album in 2008.
It was his track 'Dans Mon Ile' which it's claimed influenced Tom Jobin, and in turn his part in creating the Brazilian bossa nova style. He once said of the song: "When I recorded that little tune, holed up in my apartment in Paris, I could never have imagined it would change musical history".
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has paid tribute, saying "for more than a half-century, with humour and elegance, Henri was the incarnation of the art of song 'a la Francaise'".