Laurence Vanay

Laurence Vanay is a French keyboardist and composer who made the 1974 album Galaxies on SFP. In 1975, she led Gate Way on the Galloway release Evening Colours.

Background

Laurence Vanay is the recording name of French composer, keyboardist, and multi-instrumentalist Jacqueline Thibault. At age four, Thibault gave her first public concert. Her father gave her a four-track Revox recorder at age nine. Thibault used the machine for early home recordings. At age ten, she entered the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she studied composition, piano, and organ.

In 1972, Thibault shifted from conservatory training to rock music and sought a drummer for a new group. Nanajo recorded an EP for Vogue the next year. Thibault sang and played Hammond organ and Fender Rhodes on the sessions. Laurent Thibault introduced guitarist Serge Derrien and drummer Jean “Popov” Chevalier, who became regular collaborators. By 1973, Thibault also explored early synthesizers as creative tools.

Laurent Thibault, then affiliated with Éditions Barclay, took interest in her recordings and advised a proposed solo album. Jacqueline sought studio space for the material and connected with Gérard Manset. Manset recorded the 1974 sessions at Studio de Milan in Paris with Thibault, Derrien, and Chevalier for Galaxies.

Discography:

• Galaxies (1974)
• Magic Slows (1975 • Maire Mennesson)
• Evening Colours (1975 • Gate Way)