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LP
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FFL 064LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first vinyl reissue of Jef Gilson's Le Massacre Du Printemps, originally released in 1971. In 1971, the day after the death of Igor Stravinsky, Jef Gilson, and his Unit (Pierre Moret and Jean-Claude Pourtier) made this curious homage to classical music. It is jazz, contemporary, and electroacoustic music that the trio interrogate through a wild "noise" session evoking as much John Cage as Pierre Henry, John Coltrane as the Percussions de Strasbourg, the Art Ensemble of Chicago as the Tacet by Jean Guérin. Le Massacre du Printemps, (the Massacre of Spring) is a strange kind of homage to Igor Stravinsky, who had just died when, in 1971, Jef Gilson recorded this not-to-be-missed album of French experimental jazz. "Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end," the Russian composer was quoted as saying and here is Gilson offering us... six! A funny bird (of fire) was Jef Gilson. Clarinetist who came up playing in the basement clubs with Claude Luter and Boris Vian, he turned to piano and multiplied his experiences in jazz: bebop, choral, modal, free, fusion... As a free spirit, Gilson welcomed many "up and coming" French musicians in his bands (Jean-Luc Ponty, Bernard Lubat, Michel Portal, Henri Texier...) as well as being associated with Woody Shaw, Nathan Davis, or Byard Lancaster. Later he would go on to create, Europamerica, a transatlantic formation in which Butch Morris, Frank Lowe, and Joe McPhee would play... But for the time being it's a massacre! With Pierre Moret on organ and Jean-Claude Pourtier on drums, Gilson improvises with style and gusto. On the eponymous title track of the album, he also plays tuba and invites Claude Jeanmaire to get involved on prepared piano. Spring, for the four musicians here, is windswept: billowing, rumbling, frantic, it sounds like Stravinsky played by the "Percussions de Strasbourg" without a scoresheet! After which, behind his electric piano, Gilson with Moret and Pourtier offers us five more "unpremeditated spontaneous expressions", as he wrote on the back of the album sleeve. Five wily and electric expressions which are like the soundtrack to a film which could also have been played by the Art Ensemble or Jean Guérin. Licensed from Futura / Marge. Remastered from the master tapes; restored artwork with obi strip.
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FFL 065LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first vinyl reissue of Sahib Shihab + Jef Gilson Unit's La Marche Dans Le Désert, originally released in 1972. A few months after having released Le Massacre Du Printemps (FFL 064LP), Jef Gilson was back behind his keyboards heading up his Unit. This time he was joined by Sahib Shihab. The caravan passes by, evoking, one after the other, Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, Pierre Henry and Karlheinz Stockhausen... Oh yes, Shihab's saxophone is... amplified. La Marche Dans Le Désert (The Walk in the Desert) is first and foremost the meeting of two iconoclastic musicians: Jef Gilson, pianist who tried his hand in all forms of jazz collaborating with emblematic American musicians (Walter Davis Jr., Woody Shaw, Nathan Davis...) or French musicians who were on their way to becoming so (Jean-Luc Ponty, Bernard Lubat, Michel Portal, Henri Texier...) Shihab is one of the many black American jazzmen who found refuge in Europe. After having played in the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Roy Eldridge, the saxophonist worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Art Blakey and Tadd Dameron. He came to the old continent with the Quincy Jones orchestra, spent a few years in Copenhagen, returned to Los Angeles, then came back to Europe. When he met Jef Gilson, in February 1972, the saxophonist was happily touring with the Clarke-Boland Big Band. La Marche Dans Le Désert was an opportunity for this supporting player to show what he was capable of. And it was some opportunity: with Gilson and his Unit (Pierre Moret on keyboards and Jean-Claude Pourtier on drums, Jef Catoire on double bass, and Bruno Di Gioia and Maurice Bouhana on flute and percussion respectively), Shihab got maximum exposure. To mark the occasion, he put aside his baritone saxophone to play a soprano... varitone. The amplified instrument, while losing nothing of its natural sound, was capable of generating the same presence as Gilson's electronic keyboards. And it would change the face of modal jazz: in a forest of percussion, Shihab and Gilson go on a sensual walkabout that will remain with listeners for long after. Between the two takes of "Mirage", Shihab, this time on baritone again, takes up the mantle once more of a style of jazz he was unable to strictly define. Licensed from Futura / Marge. Remastered from the master tapes; Restored artwork and obi strip.
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7"
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FFL 061EP
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Two years after having recorded Aurora, which Gérard Terronès released on his Futura Records label in 1971, the Théâtre du Chêne Noir put on another show, Miss Madona, first at Avignon, and then at Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil. From this play, Gérard Gelas's group took three sound extracts which they made, with no further ado, into a single. Miss Madona is thus the second recording by Théâtre du Chêne Noir. The two sides (and three tracks) offer up an unbelievable instrumental theater with something of a white magic ritual about it. The actors, so much better for the record, were also musicians; alongside Miss Madona, ex-star of the circus and now idol, were the piano and electric organ of Daniel Dublet, the saxophones of Pierre Surtel and Jean-Louis Canaud, and the trumpet of Gilbert Say. But there are also the vocals of Beatrice Le Thierry, Bénédicte Maulet, Jean Paul Chazalon, Monik Lamy, Nicole Aubiat... which added to the mystery of what happened on stage. The sound of this particular theater is reminiscent as much of John Coltrane as of Ravi Shankar, Pierre Henry or the Art Ensemble of Chicago. There are voices from beyond the grave, inspirational for future musicians: Steven Stapleton, for example who included Théâtre du Chêne Noir in his Nurse With Wound List. Souffle Continu re-release this single, which is rare in more ways than one. First ever vinyl reissue. Remastered from the master tapes. Licensed from Le Théâtre du Chêne Noir.
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FFL 063CD
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Alain Bellaïche's Sea Fluorescent, originally released in 1976. Frenchman who is on the return from the USA is something unusual. Everything seemed to start out well for Alain Bellaïche: Born in Tunis, childhood in Cannes, studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, his first folk concerts folk in youngsters' houses and clubs where everyone was well behaved... Then, in 1973, he left for the States. Bellaïche would settle for around ten years, with, as a soundtrack, the two albums that he would record there. Metropolitain (1974), which was the fruit of his collaboration with the Heldon guitarist Alain Renaud, and Sea Fluorescent. In the catalog of Asylum, David Geffen's first label, Bellaïche's music was listed alongside that of the Byrds, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. In a Rock & Folk interview, Bellaïche expressed his regrets as to the prudence of French musicians: "I never had a group... perhaps the guys here are not motivated to play this kind of music." It's of note that the influences of the expatriate were, for example, Led Zeppelin, John McLaughlin, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, The Spencer Davis Group... Bellaïche, a multi-faceted and iconoclastic musician, composed Sea Fluorescent just following his desires: from a cosmic ballad ("St Andrea"), to West Coast funk ("California"), dreamlike Spanish influences ("Spanish Roots"), optimistic blues ("Foolin' Myself"), a solar track ("I'm Angry", "Sun Blues"). And the Frenchman was in good company: Jean-Marie Fabiano (from Fabiano Orchestra) on percussion, Jerry Mahavishnu Goodman on violin on "Got My Place In That Country" or John Hicks whose cascades of notes bring reggae and western closer to the "reassembled" jazz that the pianist was playing at the time. A highly sought-after French jazz funk fusion nugget. Remastered from the master tapes. Licensed from Alain Bellaïche. CD version includes Kirlian Effect's self-titled, two-track EP.
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FFL 063LP
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LP version. Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Alain Bellaïche's Sea Fluorescent, originally released in 1976. Frenchman who is on the return from the USA is something unusual. Everything seemed to start out well for Alain Bellaïche: Born in Tunis, childhood in Cannes, studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, his first folk concerts folk in youngsters' houses and clubs where everyone was well behaved... Then, in 1973, he left for the States. Bellaïche would settle for around ten years, with, as a soundtrack, the two albums that he would record there. Metropolitain (1974), which was the fruit of his collaboration with the Heldon guitarist Alain Renaud, and Sea Fluorescent. In the catalog of Asylum, David Geffen's first label, Bellaïche's music was listed alongside that of the Byrds, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. In a Rock & Folk interview, Bellaïche expressed his regrets as to the prudence of French musicians: "I never had a group... perhaps the guys here are not motivated to play this kind of music." It's of note that the influences of the expatriate were, for example, Led Zeppelin, John McLaughlin, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, The Spencer Davis Group... Bellaïche, a multi-faceted and iconoclastic musician, composed Sea Fluorescent just following his desires: from a cosmic ballad ("St Andrea"), to West Coast funk ("California"), dreamlike Spanish influences ("Spanish Roots"), optimistic blues ("Foolin' Myself"), a solar track ("I'm Angry", "Sun Blues"). And the Frenchman was in good company: Jean-Marie Fabiano (from Fabiano Orchestra) on percussion, Jerry Mahavishnu Goodman on violin on "Got My Place In That Country" or John Hicks whose cascades of notes bring reggae and western closer to the "reassembled" jazz that the pianist was playing at the time. A highly sought-after French jazz funk fusion nugget. Remastered from the master tapes. Licensed from Alain Bellaïche.
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FFL 062CD
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Steve Potts's Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami, originally released in 1975. In 1975, Steve Potts left Steve Lacy for a time to compose Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami following the proposition from the film's director Joaquín Lledó. With guest musicians of quality and from vairied horizons, the saxophonist recorded a soundtrack ranging from modal jazz to free funk and from dirty grooves, to java wah-wah with disconcerting elegance. Rather than blaxploitation, Potts and his group offer us their mixploitation made in Paris which would be recognized way beyond the boundaries of La Défense. If you have never seen Sujet ou le secrétaire aux 1001 tiroirs (1975), Steve Potts will allow you to listen to it. The film was made by a friend of his, Joaquin Noessi, a pseudonym of Joaquín Lledó, for which the saxophonist composed the music in the mid-70s. It was recorded in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Potts was joined by the musicians he played with regularly at the time with Steve Lacy (Jean-Jacques Avenel, Ambrose Jackson, Kenneth Tyler) but not just them... Because, on Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami, you hear funk musicians (pianist Frank Abel and percussionist Donny Donable, both also expatriates, who played in the group Ice), nimble French musicians (Elie Ferré and Christian Escoudé on guitars, Joss Basselli on accordion) and unclassifiable men-of-all-seasons (Keno Speller on percussion and Gus Nemeth on double bass). The production was assured by another iconoclastic figure: Jef Gilson. It was an eclectic team, and they made an eclectic album, as shown by the track titles. Steve Potts just has to shake it all up and let the notes pour out: modal, (even cosmic, jazz) free funk, dirty grooves, cool jam sessions, bistro boogie, java wah-wah... Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami is a shattering album of shattered atmospheres. Remastered from the master tapes. Restored artwork. Licensed from Steve Potts.
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FFL 062LP
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LP version. Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Steve Potts's Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami, originally released in 1975. In 1975, Steve Potts left Steve Lacy for a time to compose Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami following the proposition from the film's director Joaquín Lledó. With guest musicians of quality and from vairied horizons, the saxophonist recorded a soundtrack ranging from modal jazz to free funk and from dirty grooves, to java wah-wah with disconcerting elegance. Rather than blaxploitation, Potts and his group offer us their mixploitation made in Paris which would be recognized way beyond the boundaries of La Défense. If you have never seen Sujet ou le secrétaire aux 1001 tiroirs (1975), Steve Potts will allow you to listen to it. The film was made by a friend of his, Joaquin Noessi, a pseudonym of Joaquín Lledó, for which the saxophonist composed the music in the mid-70s. It was recorded in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and Potts was joined by the musicians he played with regularly at the time with Steve Lacy (Jean-Jacques Avenel, Ambrose Jackson, Kenneth Tyler) but not just them... Because, on Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami, you hear funk musicians (pianist Frank Abel and percussionist Donny Donable, both also expatriates, who played in the group Ice), nimble French musicians (Elie Ferré and Christian Escoudé on guitars, Joss Basselli on accordion) and unclassifiable men-of-all-seasons (Keno Speller on percussion and Gus Nemeth on double bass). The production was assured by another iconoclastic figure: Jef Gilson. It was an eclectic team, and they made an eclectic album, as shown by the track titles. Steve Potts just has to shake it all up and let the notes pour out: modal, (even cosmic, jazz) free funk, dirty grooves, cool jam sessions, bistro boogie, java wah-wah... Musique Pour Le Film d'Un Ami is a shattering album of shattered atmospheres. Remastered from the master tapes. Restored artwork. Licensed from Steve Potts.
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CD
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FFL 060CD
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Souffle Continu Records present a reissue Le Théâtre du Chêne Noir's Aurora, originally released in 1971. In 1972, Steve Lacy recorded Solo, one of the gems in his discography, in the Théâtre du Chêne Noir in Avignon. The previous year (which was also the year in which Aurora appeared), the eponymous group of actors led by Gérard Gelas, took up residence in what was a 12th century chapel. The Théâtre du Chêne Noir is therefore not just the name of a space open to all kinds of artistic audacity, but also the name of the great Theatre Group which resides there. Gérard Terronès showed some flair when he published, in 1971 on Futura, the first album by Théâtre du Chêne Noir. It has to be said that the group run by Gérard Gelas was right up his street: non-conformist, eccentric, protesting, just so alive... Singing too, as you can still hear today on Aurora, recorded at Avignon the 22nd and 23rd of June 1971. Aurora, which had been created a few weeks earlier at Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil, is according to, Gelas' own words, a fantastic tale with actor musicians who play out the fabulous story of the Earth, and children who fight against terrifying bird men who fly from planet to planet to enslave the inhabitants and become the masters of the universe. It is an ambitious subject and thankfully (even more so for the album than for the play), the actors are also excellent musicians! If you can find Chêne Noir between Checkpoint Charlie and Chillum in the Nurse With Wound List created by Steven Stapleton and John Fothergill, Aurora is closer to Stances à Sophie by the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and the Divine Comédie by Bernard Parmegiani and François Bayle. So, move forward cautiously in this landscape of recitals and songs, of mysteries and cries, where saxophones and flutes, electric guitars and percussions spring up... Could the tragic climax have been possible without music? The Théâtre du Chêne Noir replies no to the question and creates a fascinating mix of text and music without one dominating the other. Enjoy the show! Remastered from the master tapes. Licensed from Futura / Marge. CD version includes two bonus, unreleased tracks from the Miss Madona EP.
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FFL 060LP
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LP version. First vinyl reissue. Souffle Continu Records present a reissue Le Théâtre du Chêne Noir's Aurora, originally released in 1971. In 1972, Steve Lacy recorded Solo, one of the gems in his discography, in the Théâtre du Chêne Noir in Avignon. The previous year (which was also the year in which Aurora appeared), the eponymous group of actors led by Gérard Gelas, took up residence in what was a 12th century chapel. The Théâtre du Chêne Noir is therefore not just the name of a space open to all kinds of artistic audacity, but also the name of the great Theatre Group which resides there. Gérard Terronès showed some flair when he published, in 1971 on Futura, the first album by Théâtre du Chêne Noir. It has to be said that the group run by Gérard Gelas was right up his street: non-conformist, eccentric, protesting, just so alive... Singing too, as you can still hear today on Aurora, recorded at Avignon the 22nd and 23rd of June 1971. Aurora, which had been created a few weeks earlier at Ariane Mnouchkine's Théâtre du Soleil, is according to, Gelas' own words, a fantastic tale with actor musicians who play out the fabulous story of the Earth, and children who fight against terrifying bird men who fly from planet to planet to enslave the inhabitants and become the masters of the universe. It is an ambitious subject and thankfully (even more so for the album than for the play), the actors are also excellent musicians! If you can find Chêne Noir between Checkpoint Charlie and Chillum in the Nurse With Wound List created by Steven Stapleton and John Fothergill, Aurora is closer to Stances à Sophie by the Art Ensemble Of Chicago and the Divine Comédie by Bernard Parmegiani and François Bayle. So, move forward cautiously in this landscape of recitals and songs, of mysteries and cries, where saxophones and flutes, electric guitars and percussions spring up... Could the tragic climax have been possible without music? The Théâtre du Chêne Noir replies no to the question and creates a fascinating mix of text and music without one dominating the other. Enjoy the show! Remastered from the master tapes. Licensed from Futura / Marge.
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FFL 059LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Philippe Doray & Les Asociaux Associés' Nouveaux Modes Industriels, originally released in 1980. Between 1978 and 1980, the Asociaux Associés (antisocial associates, TN) recorded the second of the two albums which appeared under their name: Nouveaux Modes Industriels. Philippe Doray, with the help of his 'Associés, evermore iconoclastic and numerous, backs up his anguished poetry with customized krautrock, hallucinatory pop, and rock Suicide. Much more than a memory of the then surprising (and disturbing) swinging Rouen, this album is an intergalactic ambush. Following the publication, in 1977, of the first of two albums under his own name, Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires (FFL 058LP), on the label Gratte-Ciel, Philippe Doray didn't waste any time before writing new obscure and experimental songs. As proof, between May 1978 and January 1980, with his Asociaux Associés (antisocial associates, TN), he recorded ten of them in the farm in which he lived (and shared) close to Rouen. In 1980, Nouveaux Modes Industriels was published thanks to the support of Invisible, the label of the Société Coopérative d'Ouvriers-Producteurs Artistiques (S.C.O.P.A., the Cooperative Society of Artistic Worker/Producers, TN) run by, amongst others, the ex-manager of Crium Delirium, Jacques Pasquier. This meant that Doray had free rein for his electric poetry, his personal delirium, to be heard. He had already shaken up French music with his mix of pop, krautrock, and free jazz; a few months later he would undergo a change which would be the precursor of his future projects. Before collaborating with Thierry Müller under the names Ruth and Crash, Doray let loose one last time, with his Asociaux Associés, his anguished poetry into the face of the urban labyrinth, his nuclear dynamite... It is no coincidence if the album cover is similar to those by Urban Sax, the spirit of the times was anguish as a creator of beauty. Doray's version had the advantage of still knowing how to sing. Never forgetting his interest for dance, the musician gets Cluster moving to a boogaloo, foments a Suicide on synthetic jaw harp or invents elevator music for tower blocks... All of which hotchpotch feeds into his Nouveaux Modes Industriels. If the last track of the album states "no after-sales service", it is simply because there is no need. Licensed from Philippe Doray. Remastered from the master tapes; obi strip; includes text sheet insert.
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FFL 058LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Philippe Doray & Les Asociaux Associés' Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires, originally released in 1977. In 1976, the Asociaux Associés (antisocial associates, TN) led by Philippe Doray (Rotomagus, Ruth, Crash), recorded the first of the two albums under their own name: Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires. On synthesizer, Doray fires off his disturbing poetry over psychedelic pop, voodoo rock, off-kilter krautrock, approximate swing -- But if the music is iconoclastic (bringing to mind as much Hendrix as Areski, Ash Ra Tempel as Berrocal...), one thing is certain: Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires is one of the best albums of obscure experimental song ever recorded. It is no surprise that, on the Nurse With Wound list that Steven Stapleton inserted in the first album of his legendary musical project, the name of Philippe Doray can be found between that of the Doo-Dooettes and Jean Dubuffet: his music is genuinely original and, what is more, ahead of its time. It was in 1977 that the first album by Philippe Doray, Ramasse-Miettes Nucléaires, was published on Gratte-Ciel, a label created by the journalist from Rock & Folk Jean-Marc Bailleux and run by Jean-Marc Patrat and José Serré. Encouraged by his wild experience in Rotomagus, a formidable rock band which swept through Rouen, for sure, but also further afield -- as Julian Cope was himself inspired, years later, by their explosivity -- Doray brought a team to this album which was both untamed and ready to fight to defend it's terrible (and trembling) poetry. Backed by his Asociaux Associés (antisocial associates, TN), the man from Rouen let his fantasy run wild and cried out again: "sing with me, and don't be afraid to clap your hands!" And so, much of French popular music was shaken: the ball in Doray's pinball machine had struck Jimi Hendrix then Alain Goraguer, then Ash Ra Tempel and onto Areski, then T-Rex followed by Jac Berrocal... As far as the texts are concerned, just take a listen. Doray's poetry is schizophrenic: nurtured in the Normandy countryside, it relates paranoid tales of booby-trapped towns, Levi's jeans, Prisunic supermarkets, and plastic dolls... Crumbs of reality which he sucked up to create the album that Souffle Continu Records and Thierry Müller, mastering (with Ruth, Crash, and Illitch too) spit out again fifty years later, with many good memories. Licensed from Philippe Doray. Remastered from the master tapes; obi strip; includes text sheet insert.
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FFL 056CD
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Souffle Continu Records present a reissue of Baroque Jazz Trio's self-titled album, original released on Saravah in 1970. This CD also includes tracks from the 7" Orientasie/Largo originally released in 1970, and reissued by Souffle Continue Records. Mixing Baroque, free-jazz, and world music, the unique album of the Baroque Jazz Trio (which is in fact 3/5 of the Bach Modern Quintet) is a difficult-to-label sound object which is far from being typical of the psychedelic sounds associated with the early 1970s. Because, although fusion with Indian music (amongst others) and jazz (but also pop) was popular at the time, rarely had all this been mixed together with Baroque music. Even mentioning Jacques Loussier adapting Bach does not come close, as here, all barriers are broken down, with an audacity which begins with the highly original and extraordinary use of the harpsichord, an instrument which it is unusual to hear in such a context, even though indicated by the "baroque" in the title. Of course, jazz specialists will mention Johnny Guarnieri in the Gramercy Five with Artie Shaw, Martial Solal playing "Four Brothers" in 1965, or Lalo Schifrin in his homage to the Marquis de Sade? But no, none of these references really makes sense, as they pale in comparison to the wild adventures of Georges Rabol, probably closer to Call Cobbs with Albert Ayler, or, better still, Odile Bailleux in another remarkable French group, Armonicord, than anyone else. With George, the rhythm section is no less outstanding: Jean-Charles Capon, who, two years later would record the magnificent L'Univers-Solitude (FFL 046LP) on the same label, is a flying cello virtuoso, while Philippe Combelle, a great drummer rarely heard in such experimental circumstances, plays daringly mixed percussion. Also noteworthy is the presence of flutist, Michel Roques on one track, who was also behind a Saravah album, the splendid Chorus (FFL 048LP). In France, whether or not groups like Moravagine, Confluence, or Synchro Rhythmic Eclectic Language, working in similarly unusual areas, are taken into account, it is rare to find a group which, like the Baroque Jazz Trio, have been able to so blur the boundaries, especially by adding an exotic breath of fresh air inherited from the Third Stream. This record, alongside the album by Brigitte Fontaine with the Art Ensemble of Chicago made Pierre Barouh stand out as a pioneering producer and destroyer of stylistic frontiers.
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FFL 054CD
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Seven years of effervescent activity: few free jazz groups can be proud of such longevity, especially with a line-up as stable as that of Perception. Yes, there would be several guest musicians, including Kent Carter and Jean-Charles Capon, on the second album... Yes the "existential problems" of Siegfried Kessler would necessitate him being temporarily replaced by Manuel Villaroel... But for the most part, it was the core quartet of the first album which would tour Europe, through concerts from Belgium to Germany and including Norway where Perception represented France at the Molde festival. So, few personnel changes then, until towards the end, in 1975, after completing the third album, when drummer Jean-My Truong left and had to be replaced. First by Mino Cinelu, at the time in Opération Rhino and Moravagine, then by Jacques Thollot, already behind the cult albums 1971's Jeter la girafe à la mer (FFL 049LP) and 1975's Watch Devil Go. These changes did not alter the spirit of Perception, as both were able to integrate a group which nevertheless had such a strong identity. There was no recorded trace of Jacques Thollot's time in the group, until Live at Le Stadium came to the rescue. So, this live recording from 1977 is a precious archive, displaying unique and contrasting directions which had first begun to be explored in 1970, following the seminal Our Meanings And Our Feelings by Michel Portal. An archive then, which proves what we already knew, that there were few quartets in Europe at the time capable of reaching such a level, other than that formed on an occasional basis, around the same period, by Gerd Dudek, Joachim Kühn, Peter Warren, and Daniel Humair. Licensed by Perception. Includes six-page booklet with unpublished paintings by Yochko Seffer and an essay by Didier Levallet.
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FFL 053LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first time vinyl reissue of Perception's Mestari, originally released in 1973. To finally become oneself: that was the lesson, in the 1960-1970s, that European musicians attracted to improvisation had learned from American free-jazz. Following this idea, the musicians of Perception, whilst individually accompanying Mal Waldron, Slide Hampton, Johnny Griffin, or Hank Mobley when they played in Paris, decided early on to break free from what was going on across the Atlantic and seek their own authenticity. When Mestari, their third and final album, came out, Yochk'O Seffer, Siegfried Kessler, Didier Levallet, and Jean-My Truong had four years of questing and originality behind them developing their own individual language. A language in which the spontaneity of the improvisations did not exclude influences taken from European folk or classical traditions. Balanced, ethereal, and structured, Mestari was a return to the original core quartet; the previous album included numerous guest musicians (FFL 052LP). It opens infinite perspectives and is totally in phase with what was being produced in France at the same time by Cohelmec Ensemble and the Dharma Quintet.
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FFL 051LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever vinyl reissue of Perception's self-titled album, originally released in 1971. The story of Perception takes root in a series of chance meetings, which seem at first glance unlikely, between musicians from differing horizons, be they geographic or esthetic. Jazz Magazine was spot on with an article from the period entitled, "Perception, four conceptions", before detailing the origins of the musicians (Hungarian for saxophonist Yochk'O Seffer, German for pianist Siegfried Kessler, French for bassist Didier Levallet, Franco-Vietnamese for drummer Jean-My Truong). It then looked at their varying backgrounds (classical academic training for the first two, an improvised apprenticeship on the jazz scene for the third), in order to point out the seemingly contradictory and perhaps complementary directions which would unite in a singular identity. None of this, however, was clear from the start as the group began as a trio with a different saxophonist, before stabilizing to the first core quartet. Having been remarked on in 1970 by Gérard Terronès, who was already producer of the cult Alors! (Michel Portal), Célesphère (Burton Greene), and Basse Barre (Barre Phillips), Perception was thus given a timely opportunity to record their first album on his Futura Records label. This eponymous opus, illustrated with a drawing by Yochk'O Seffer, is the first of a fascinating trilogy. It puts the seal on those complementary contradictions with a lyrically incandescent free jazz, made up of startling interactions between complex harmonies and disjointed rhythms. Licensed from Futura / Marge. Remastered from the master tapes. Includes four-page booklet with unpublished photos and an essay by Didier Levallet.
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LP
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FFL 052LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever vinyl reissue of Perception & Friends, originally released in 1973. After their first album which came out in 1971 on Futura Records (FFL 051LP), Perception wanted to rapidly record a second, but Gérard Terronès did not want to produce another, especially so soon after the first. Therefore, the only solution was to produce it themselves. It is thus completely logical that it came out on the label of the Association for the Development of Improvised Music (A.D.M.I.) created by Didier Levallet with the aim of promoting creative music (on this subject, this was the same label that also produced the excellent Inter Fréquences (FFL 031LP) by the Free Jazz Workshop). As the album was entirely created from A-to-Z by Perception, they decided on a more ambitious project, exploring a wider palette of colors by augmenting the original quartet with additional instruments. So, it was with numerous guests including Teddy Lasry, Jean-Charles Capon, Kent Carter, and Jean-François Jenny-Clark, that Perception developed still further the apparently contradictory directions which were their specificity. This is further highlighted by the fact that Siegfried Kessler, largely absent on this recording, is temporarily replaced by Manuel Villaroel, a pianist from Chile with a completely different temperament (and, by-the-by, already the name behind the superb Terremoto with the Matchi-oul Septet). Contrary to the first album, which seems in comparison much more compact and united this second (and second-to last, not counting the live recordings), with the many different options proposed, would seem to predict the different directions that musicians from Perception would subsequently take. One track, by Yochk'O Seffer, who had already been part of Magma two years previously, looks forward to the more structured Neffesh Music, whilst, in the opposite direction, another track, by Didier Levallet, is more evocative of the future arrangements on Swing Strings System (1978). It is, to sum up, a nice paradox that all these different elements, from tightly written pieces to wild improvisation, work so well together and are one the key attributes of a group free like few others. Licensed by Perception. Remastered from the master tapes. Includes four-page booklet with unpublished photos and an essay by Didier Levallet.
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LP
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FFL 056LP
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Souffle Continu Records present a reissue of Baroque Jazz Trio's self-titled album, original released on Saravah in 1970. Mixing Baroque, free-jazz, and world music, the unique album of the Baroque Jazz Trio (which is in fact 3/5 of the Bach Modern Quintet) is a difficult-to-label sound object which is far from being typical of the psychedelic sounds associated with the early 1970s. Because, although fusion with Indian music (amongst others) and jazz (but also pop) was popular at the time, rarely had all this been mixed together with Baroque music. Even mentioning Jacques Loussier adapting Bach does not come close, as here, all barriers are broken down, with an audacity which begins with the highly original and extraordinary use of the harpsichord, an instrument which it is unusual to hear in such a context, even though indicated by the "baroque" in the title. Of course, jazz specialists will mention Johnny Guarnieri in the Gramercy Five with Artie Shaw, Martial Solal playing "Four Brothers" in 1965, or Lalo Schifrin in his homage to the Marquis de Sade? But no, none of these references really makes sense, as they pale in comparison to the wild adventures of Georges Rabol, probably closer to Call Cobbs with Albert Ayler, or, better still, Odile Bailleux in another remarkable French group, Armonicord, than anyone else. With George, the rhythm section is no less outstanding: Jean-Charles Capon, who, two years later would record the magnificent L'Univers-Solitude (FFL 046LP) on the same label, is a flying cello virtuoso, while Philippe Combelle, a great drummer rarely heard in such experimental circumstances, plays daringly mixed percussion. Also noteworthy is the presence of flutist, Michel Roques on one track, who was also behind a Saravah album, the splendid Chorus (FFL 048LP). In France, whether or not groups like Moravagine, Confluence, or Synchro Rhythmic Eclectic Language, working in similarly unusual areas, are taken into account, it is rare to find a group which, like the Baroque Jazz Trio, have been able to so blur the boundaries, especially by adding an exotic breath of fresh air inherited from the Third Stream. This record, alongside the album by Brigitte Fontaine with the Art Ensemble of Chicago made Pierre Barouh stand out as a pioneering producer and destroyer of stylistic frontiers. Remastered audio. Licensed from Saravah.
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7"
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FFL 057EP
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Alongside Alfred Panou & the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Je Suis Un Sauvage (FFL 055EP), Baroque Jazz Trio's Orientasie/Largo is probably one of the hardest-to-find EPs on Saravah. Hitting #2 on Jazzman Records European Jazz 45s top 10 list, this is the finest fusion between free jazz, baroque music, and exotica with one of the most singular sound you can find on a jazz record. First time reissue. Remastered audio. Licensed from Saravah.
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LP
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FFL 049LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever vinyl reissue of Jacques Thollot's Quand Le Son Devient Aigu, Jeter La Girafe À La Mer, originally released in 1971. While he was still just a young adolescent who had perfected his drum technique under the benevolent wing of Kenny Clarke, the Club Saint-Germain liked to present Jacques Thollot as a prodigy capable of holding his own with the famous jazz musicians who came through Paris. It was there that Eric Dolphy immediately noticed him, and from René Thomas to Walt Dickerson, everyone wanted to work with him. However, it was during the 1960s, first with Jef Gilson then François Tusques, Barney Wilen, Joachim Kühn, and Steve Lacy, that the decisive encounters occurred. Without forgetting that he joined, in 1968, one of Don Cherry's groups, went on tour with them and came back transformed. That being said, to present Jacques Thollot as an in-demand virtuoso who could adapt to any circumstances would be to ignore both his demanding compositions and his complete freedom from stylistic boundaries. Although he had already featured on some cult albums -- Our Meanings And Our Feelings by Michel Portal (1969), Monkey-Pockie-Boo by Sonny Sharrock (1970) -- the first album under his own name, recorded in 1971 for producer Gérard Terronès, who gave him free rein, would turn out to be an unexpected, unclassifiable and astounding work. Entitled Quand Le Son Devient Aigu, Jeter La Girafe À La Mer, ("when the sound gets high-pitched, throw the giraffe into the sea") it is an extraordinary sonic collage, created from discrete re-recordings and using just a handful of instruments including drums and piano. The result is a miracle, though the economy of means the production technique succeeds in putting the spotlight on the oddly elaborate compositions under an enigmatic but well-chosen title, borrowed from poet Henri Michaux. It puts into words the mysteries of a fragile melancholic universe which can be compared to another album by an iconoclastic drummer: The End Of An Ear by Robert Wyatt (1970). The difference being the highly personal elements which shine through the French musician's album, clearly drawn from listening intently to classics from Debussy, Ravel, and Barraqué (whom he knew), a seam which he would continue to mine on his equally excellent following albums Watch Devil Go (1975) and Cinq Hops (1978). Thollot recorded five albums under his own name during his lifetime, but those albums are marvelous. Licensed from Futura/Marge. 16-page booklet with unpublished photos an essay by Jean Rochard.
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7"
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FFL 055EP
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Repressed; originally released for RSD 2019. A single produced by the highly-revered Saravah label at the time, featuring the Art Ensemble of Chicago backing the poetry of the little-remembered Alfred Panou, is not as well-known as the label's other releases. Seen in the 1967 film Weekend by Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Panou who is of mixed Benin-Togolese origin, already had a career as an actor in political theater when, pushed by producer Pierre Barouh, he recorded two of his texts concerning Black Power. Panou's prose is one of the first, in its own way, to question the notion of black identity. The rowdy poly-instrumental jungle fantasy of the Art Ensemble of Chicago creates a musical counterpoint. First ever vinyl reissue.
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LP
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FFL 046LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever vinyl reissue of Jean-Charles Capon's L'Univers-Solitude, originally released in 1972. The cello, although considered a minority instrument in the history of jazz and improvisation, has carved itself a niche, both in the USA (Fred Katz, Calo Scott, Abdul Wadud, Diedre Murray, Peggy Lee) and in Europe (Tristan Honsinger, Maarten Altena, Denis Van Hecke, Ernst Reijseger). Alongside Didier Petit, Jean-Charles Capon is one of the French virtuosi on the instrument, and he began playing professionally at the beginning of the '60s before creating the Baroque Jazz Trio. His name was rapidly linked to different cult groups for who he became the guest star (Confluence, Perception, Speed Limit), but also with many more or less well-known (free) jazz musicians including David S. Ware with whom he recorded the impeccable duo From Silence To Music (1978), Philippe Maté, Michel Roques, André Jaume, or Joe McPhee (as part of Po Music). Jef Gilson helped get his career under way (they recorded together as far back as 1968) before Pierre Barouh, boss of Saravah records with who Jean-Charles Capon played alongside Brigitte Fontaine and Areski, offered him the opportunity to record his first album: L'Univers-Solitude. In the company of Swiss percussionist Pierre Favre, Jean-Charles Capon demonstrated, in all registers, a level of invention way beyond a traditional rhythmic and melodic background, with the fluid phrasing a perfect complement to his extended range. It is not for nothing that Jean-Charles Capon admires Duke Ellington, John Lewis, and Gabriel Fauré, as can be heard on his later highly personal versions of "Mood Indigo", "Django", and "Après Un Rêve". As for Pierre Favre, he is not there just to make up the numbers: his timbral research and combinations of complex rhythms offer the French cellist wonderful interaction throughout this remarkable album which had finally been given a dignified rerelease. The fluidity of the phrasing, timbral research, complex rhythmic combinations and rare sense of improvisation make this one of the best modern jazz recordings on the Saravah label in the 1970s. Licensed from Saravah. Gatefold sleeve; Obi strip; Edition of 500.
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FFL 048LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first every vinyl reissue of Michel Roques's Chorus, originally released in 1972. Although his albums are full of the same qualities as those of many other star saxophonists/flutists playing spiritual jazz, Frenchman Michel Roques is often classed as a "supporting artist" or a "musicians' musician", forever in the background, and often left out of the reference books. Adding to this lack of recognition is the fact that Michel Roques was seriously under-recorded: five albums as leader in a career of almost twenty years does not amount to much! Thankfully, in 1972, Pierre Barouh, boss of Saravah, records made up for the injustice by offering him the opportunity to record Chorus in studio, providing a continuity with the equally brilliant Safari made four years earlier (1969). An ambitious work, Chorus owes much to the unusual "augmented" rhythm section, the inner structure of which is none other than that used in the Parisian trio of pianist Mal Waldron at the end of the 1960s: namely Patrice Caratini on bass (completed by the cello of the amazing Jean-Charles Capon) and Franco Manzecchi on drums (seconded by the percussion of Humberto Canto). Another notable singularity is that Michel Roques had the excellent idea of excluding the piano, traditionally employed in this kind of context. This didn't prevent Chorus from being played on French TV in 1973 with a piano replacing the cello, and a different voice reciting the beat-style poems of Nicole Roques, that of actor Jacques Degor, occasional collaborator with Jef Gilson, but far less convincing than Bachir Touré, wisely chosen for this recording for his style inherited from Afro-American preachers and capable of holding his own with the wild improvisations. In its own way, Chorus is one of the key albums mixing free jazz and spoken word "à la française". It is also a militant concept album which has lost nothing of its political force. Licensed from Saravah. Gatefold sleeve; obi strip; Edition of 500.
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2LP
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FFL 050LP
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RSD 2019 release. Nicknamed the Primdufs, the group have a passion for the obsolete French "valse musette". But their take has nothing in common with the smutty chords of popular balls and singalongs in little town halls. This is "bal musette" with balls, it's genuine, virile, and authentic. Though these noble savages like rummaging around in 1920s Paris, they don't shy away from including rhythms from all over the planet, rhumba from Zaireto, gypsy jazz, Hindu waltzes or Argentine tango, blues, "paso doble" or "chanson réaliste". It all began in 1986, when Dominique Cravic, "ukukeke" champion and a renowned guitarist who learned from jazzmen like Lee Konitz or Larry Coryell and also played with Georges Moustaki and Henri Salvador, met a certain Robert Crumb. Yes, the legendary comic book author from the great days of the US psychedelic underground in the '70s, the creator of Fritz the Cat (1972) and Mr Natural in person, the same man who also created the cover for Cheap Thrills (1968) by Janis Joplin. Crumb plays banjo and mandolin, collects 78s of blues, jazz and musette. The two cronies then composed their own made-to-measure orchestra, alongside many famous names including accordionist Daniel Colin, clarinetist Bertrand Auger, saxophonist Daniel Huck, bassist Jean-Philippe Viret or singer Claire Elzière (sorry, it's impossible to name them all). This great group has recorded four albums since 1986 (all with sleeves drawn by Crumb), some including guest stars such as Pierre Barouh, Jean-Jacques Milteau, Allain Leprest, Sanseverino or Olivia Ruiz. For thirty years, the Primitifs du Futur have carried the torch of musette to the four corners of the earth, from fiestas to festivals, and today release a double vinyl, entitled Résumé Des Épisodes Précédents which brings together the best of their adventures. It is a refreshing and heartening cocktail of "world tribal musette", as they call it, which, in these electro digital times, has a rejuvenating effect, a magic swing potion. Double-LP with 20-page booklet with all Crumb previous artworks for the band's albums plus unseen photos. Edition of 1500; No repress.
"The Primitifs Du Futur travel on sound waves back in time to the early twentieth century and make the world seem like a far better place than it ever actually was. I can't get the band's music off my turntable or out of my head. Accordion, mandolin, harmonica, saxophone, musical saw, and beautiful haunting melodies--what's not to love? Even their sad songs make me happy." --Art Spiegelman
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LP
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FFL 047LP
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Souffle Continu Records present the first ever vinyl reissue of Philippe Maté/Daniel Vallancien, originally released in 1972. Although discrete, the career of saxophonist Philippe Maté includes nonetheless several indispensable albums: be it with the Acting Trio, Jean Guérin (Tacet), or Jef Gilson (Workshop), his collaborations in a big band or quartet with Lawrence "Butch" Morris, his presence in the Saxophone Quartet and also on the brilliant 1972 album L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouche by Jean-Claude Vannier (BMS 001CD, FKR 001X-LP). As for the man in the background: Daniel Vallancien, a sound engineer rarely featured on the sleeves; the collection Actuel on the BYG label owes much to him (he is at the controls behind Anthony Braxton, Don Cherry, Sonny Sharrock, or Steve Lacy), and the same goes for Saravah for who he notably recorded Areski, Brigitte Fontaine, Maurice Lemaître, or the Cohelmec Ensemble. Not bad for starters! What is more, Daniel Vallancien is one of a prestigious group of French recording engineers with open ears and often themselves musicians, even if only occasionally for some, including Bruno Menny, Daniel Deshays, or Jean-Marc Foussat, who have all recorded remarkable albums as leaders. Behind this collaboration was the idea of creating music which was free, direct, and spontaneous, while having also a minimum of advance planning. Music, according to the brief liner notes desirous to "remove itself from long and patient laboratory experiments". So, there can be found here none of the sophisticated tools associated with electroacoustic research, but mainly a recording mixer console, which, in the hands of Daniel Vallancien acts directly on the original instrumental sound in real time, modifying and multiplying it while respecting the natural flow. Be it Paul Méfano, Betsy Jolas, Gérard Grisey, or Jacques Lejeune, many contemporary composers working in France have, at one time or another, included the saxophone in their work. Nothing can compare to the singularity of the dialogue between Philippe Maté and Daniel Vallancien, which they themselves describe as being "serious, sarcastic or humorous", with, here and there, "disturbing sounds". Words, however, even those used by the protagonists themselves, are insufficient to describe such a sonic object, difficult to identify and, it has to be said, extraordinary. Licensed from Saravah. Gatefold sleeve; Obi strip; Edition of 500.
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2LP
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FFL 029LP
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Souffle Continu present a reissue of Camizole's self-titled album, recorded in 1977. Is freedom worth more than mastery, construction and achievement? In replying yes, the utopians of Camizole clear show which side they are on. For them, musical creation must be as spontaneous as possible. To achieve this, it is better to put egos to one side to concentrate on collective experimentation, to be tried and tested in front of a live audience. Playing the card of unlimited and unhindered improvisation is Camizole's crédo, having decided to get a taste of the urgent game-playing already established by the Nihilist Spasm Band and the Living Theatre research of Julian Beck and Judith Malina. At the time, that is to say when punk was exploding, this concept, itself inherited from the May 68 events, made an impact on Chris Cutler of Henry Cow, but also Lindsay Cooper, who invited Camizole member Françoise Crublé to join the Feminist Improvising Group. Also, the Tapioca label run by Jean Georgakarakos (co-founder of BYG Records), considered producing an album, from a live recording made at the Théâtre de Chartres in November 1977. Unfortunately the label rapidly ceased all activities and the recording was left in a drawer, which was a real shame. Today, after extracts and other live bits and pieces came out via Spalax at the end of the 1990s, an integral double album is finally being released (for the first time on vinyl) to do justice to the collective created by Jacky Dupéty, and which included, amongst others Dominique Grimaud (Vidéo-Aventures), Chris Chanet (Etron Fou Leloublan, Urban Sax), Xavier Jouvelet (Lol Coxhill), and Bernard Filipetti (Art & Technique). Better late than never! Obi strip, eight page booklet. Edition of 500.
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