Alternative Oblique

Torrent Vertical

Marialuisa Capurso : voice
Dirar Kalash : drums
enregistré le 23 avril 2015 à Altamura (Italie)

À propos des réflexions

Fred Marty : double bass & Joe McPhee : pocket cornet
enregistré le 12 mai 2015 à La Garenne-Colombes

Ombres dans un espace sans coude

Paul Lovens : drums
enregistré le 17 mai 2015 à Nickelsdorf (Autriche)

A Big Final Mess in Open Air at Nickelsdorf

Thomas Berghammer : trumpet
Raymond Boni : guitar, mouth organ,
Hans Falb : turnables
Irene Kepl : violin,
Joe McPhee : saxes, voice & pocket cornet
Noïd : cello,
Makoto Sato : drums
enregistré le 16 mai 2015 à Nickelsdorf (Autriche)

Un quadruple cédé pour retracer l’utopie de la démarche et l’évolution de Jean-Marc Foussat. Connu dans toute l’Europe de l’improvisation pour le généreux preneur de sons des Joëlle Léandre, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, Lytton, Joe McPhee, JMF a contribué à écrire les plus belles pages de l’improvisation radicale de manière désintéressée, avec passion et amour. Rien que pour l’extraordinaire Aïda de Derek Bailey en solo acoustique et la documentation de Epiphany – Epiphanies, la Company la plus stellaire et la plus utopique du même Bailey, C’est sans compter sur son expérience personnelle dans la découverte de l’acte musical par n’importe quel bout ! En fait, Jean-Marc Foussat est aussi passionné que les musiciens exceptionnels qu’il a enregistrés dans une autre vie. Dans livret interview de l’album, Julien Palomo (improvising beings , c’est lui !) lui fait retracer son parcours depuis les utopiques premières années 70 où il s’initie à une musique communautaire où se croisent autant le rock alternatif ( pré-punk ?), l’écriture contemporaine, la pratique de l’improvisation, l’influence du free-jazz, le fait maison etc…. . Commençant son périple musical à la guitare trafiquée dans le trio dadaïste Phyllauxcxzairrâh (qui fit pourrir vingt fois son poids de patates !), JMF se lance dans la composition interactive sur bande avec des souffleurs libertaires et une solide paire de ciseaux tout en faisant siffler un VCS III. Il finit par abandonner la partie, déçu ou frustré par ce qui lui semblait une impasse : Le Lézard Marcioen 1977 à Cluny. Après son travail intensif et prodigue d'ingénieur du son, on le retrouve à l’aube des années 2000 avec le guitariste Marc Dufourd, le pote de Jacques Oger dans Axolotl. Avec Oger, Foussat avait fondé Potlatch pour s’en distancer par la suite et le nom du label traduit bien son extrême générosité située dans une forme de candeur enthousiaste. Dans sa création musicale, l’influence du rock est latente : le cédé consacré à sa collaboration avec Dufourd rejoint par Jérôme Bourdellon, est baptisé Trash The Flash, alors que le 3ème cédé contient un Wild Thing (Tribute to J.H.). Cette musique intrigante, trafiquée s’évanouit dans des boucles hallucinées dans l’orbite post-rock. Les sons du synthé et les bandes de JMF apportent une réelle dimension organique. Aussi, un extraordinaire témoignage enregistré d’un homme « différent » nous livre en filigrane ses tourments et c’est profondément touchant. Les plages du quatrième cédé démontre à l’envi que JMF est devenu un improvisateur à part entière : de soufflantes rencontres enregistrées en mars, avril et mai 2015 avec Jean Luc Capozzo, Nicolas Souchal, Matthias Mahler aux trompettes et trombone, la chanteuse Marialuisa Capurso et le percussionniste Dirar Kalash, le contrebassiste Fred Marty et Joe Mc Phee à la trompette de poche, Paul Lovens à Nickelsdorf et un groupe plus large : McPhee, Thomas Berghammer à la trompette, Raymond Boni, Hans Falb aux platines, Irene Kepl au violon, Noïd au violoncelle et Makoto Sato à la batterie pour clôturer en fanfare décapante. Ses récents carnets de bord de l’improbable millésimés de 2015 valent à eux seuls le détour. Improvising beings a la foi qui fait bouger les montagnes !

J-M Van Schouwburg

Jean-Marc Foussat : Alternative oblique (Improvising Beings, 2015)

1973-2015 : 42 ans (avec arrêts, suspensions et rebonds) de vie(s) musicale(s) à la charge de Jean-Marc Foussat, l’homme au chapeau et au VC III. Et quatre CD pour que personne ne doute plus des talents de musicien et d’improvisateur de JMF. Pleins jusqu’à la garde, ces CD...

Cédéun : in the beginning
Phyllauxckzairrah n° III : Du prog rock innovant avec infiltrations de riffs. Du planant sans axe, des fausses routes, de longues plages, des breaks de drums fébriles. JMF n’est encore que guitariste (JMF, Marc Bohy, Pascal Bouscaillou : Verrières-le-Buisson 1973). Carte postale : captations, collages et transformations. Sardou (est-ce bien lui ?) et sa Marseillaise. Du flipper électronique. L’Internationale et le tournis. L’ère du temps. (JMF : Igny 1975). Jean-François Ballèvre : Nancarrow en surdosage. Dysharmonie et dissymétrie. Pensée obsessive et cauchemar sans sortie. Nerfs à vif. (Jean-François Ballèvre : Verrières-le-Buisson 1975). Le lézard Marcio : joyeux bordel. Cuivres criards et dissipés. Surexcités. Les sons de la rue. Les halls de gare. Du kitsch vite renvoyé dans les limbes. Des transes africaines. Un moelleux duo flûte / basse électrique. Bal tragique (JMF, Pascal Barrès, Alain Hako, Jean-Michel Laugier, Antoine Potier, Hélène Sage, Jacques Sordoillet : Cluny 1977)

Cédédeux : sonic years
Thrash the Flash : sur de petites saynètes, JMF fâche les pistes. L’harmonie se désarticule, s’oublie, se noie au sein des sons du VC III. Rien ne peut lui échapper. Après le minutieux collectage de sons vient celui des brouillages. De la contamination sonique comme art profond. Une trompette demandant la parole ou une clarinette basse barrissant en pure perte, n’y peuvent rien : JMF façonne un envers devenu endroit. Seule résiste une guitare (Marc Dufourd), jamais en reste de riff ou de solos éclairés. (JMF, Marc Dufourd, Lea Dufourd, Damien Dufourd, Jérôme Bourdellon, Antenna : 2000-2013)

Cédétrois : solo(s)
Loopé : un cœur qui bat. Des cascades horizontales et des horizons morcelés. La métrique est implacable et hypnotique. Douce hypnose. Avec JMF, la boucle n’est jamais inerte mais toujours vivante, toujours recommencée (JMF : Igny 1975). Wild Thing : c’est le vent du chaos et des orages soniques. Vision de l’enfer et grignotage des cerveaux. Les loups hurlent, la bande est grouillante : c’est l’échec des diables (JMF : La Garenne-Colombe 2011). Alternative oblique : au cœur de l’usine, JMF fait dérailler les machines. Il casse le mouvement, dérègle, fait fondre les cadences. Des gémissements de plaisir triomphent de tristes manufactures (JMF : La Garenne-Colombe 2015). Live at le Souffle Continu : pensée chromatique, lenteur et délestement. De sages turbulences, bisous magnétiques et râles des cavernes (JMF : Paris 2013)

Cédéquatre : et les ami(e)s
Les yeux fermés : trompette, trombone et VC III caquettent et nous alertent du péril en cours. Le chaos viendra de l’atome. Ils n’ont que frayeurs en bouches et en doigts (JMF, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Nicolas Souchal : Paris 2015). Torrent vertical : un lieu insaisissable et la difficulté de se fixer. Des cymbales que l’on fouette. Univers oblique. Bientôt renversé (JMF, Marialuisa Capurso, Dirar Kalash : Altamura 2015). A propos des réflexions : un galop de VCII, trompette et contrebasse. Le galop troue la matière, la trompette tend la mélodie sans la briser. Fort, mais trop court : mériterait un CD entier (JMF, Fred Marty, Joe McPhee : La Garenne-Colombe 2015). Ombres dans un espace sans coude & A Big Final : les amis se pressent au portillon. On s’observe, on s’écoute, on crie et on exulte (ça couvait, ça couvait !) (JMF, Paul Lovens, Thomas Berghammer, Raymond Boni, Hans Falb, Irène Kepl, Joe McPhee, Noïd, Makoto Sato : Nickelsdorf 2015)

Jean-Marc Foussat (et les amis) : Alternative oblique (Improvising Beings)
Enregistrement : 1973-2015. Edition : 2015.
CD : Alternative oblique
Luc Bouquet © Le son du grisli

Today's program covers so vast a terrain that I find myself gathering my thoughts even as I begin to write. It is by Jean-Marc Foussat & Les Autres, a four-CD set entitled Alternative Oblique (improvising beings ib38). So what is it? It is an extraordinary gathering of musical examples of an avant sort, centered around Jean-Marc Foussat and some of the music he has made with self and "others" from 1973 to 2015.
As many readers may know (especially those who read my blogs regularly) Maestro Foussat is one of the principal practitioners of electronics & electro-acoustics on the free music scene in Europe these days, a voice of distinction in the live arena for the most part with a very creative flair that he applies to synths and other means to create tone-noise textures that often blend with live free musicians for potent and varied mixes.
This album set is a kind of retrospective, a biography in sound, of some of the music he has made over the years, I believe all of it unreleased. We begin with Jean-Marc on home-made guitar in a power trio of avant garage sorts, and experience him with various groupings that include his guitar and electronics for some raw avant adventure. In the course of this adventure we hear some of his solo electronic works, and a good deal of highly electric zonings in a shifting array of local free and free-rockers. In the end we get some recent music making with Foussat on synths and an array of avant totems along with lesser-knowns in a varied ensemble-oriented outer jazz and new music hybrid. So there are important appearances by Joe McPhee, Paul Lovens, Makoto Sato and others.
There is so much music here that a summary is difficult. There are moments of quasi art brut, raw, primal rock and beyond. And then there are essays in pure noise-sound. Then there is avant free ensemble music of the improv variety.
Altogether the listener has much work to do in absorbing the sheer infinity of possibilities. Some of it is intentionally crude, garage like, but there is a good deal that has a free sophistication as well.
Not all of it is in the masterpiece vein, but it all pushes the envelope as to what is "proper" to the avant garde at the same time as it defines what that is and has been for Jean-Marc Foussat. Some may find some of this rough going, "difficult" in various ways, but if you open yourself up you may well find yourself captivated with the sounds, the rigor, the looseness, the trajectory and even the intensive experimental foundering-floundering that some of the early work intentionally puts forward.
Much of it is exceptional in ways perhaps only Foussat can be right now. It all has that joy of underground spirit that brought many of us to the avant in earlier days. Now that does not mean that absolutely everybody will like all of it. I find it bracing but best served in single-CD doses in a sitting. There is nothing the least bit routine in this music. If you don't like electronics this may not be for you. But if you do and would like to get a real grip on the Foussat universe, this is the dope!

JEAN-MARC FOUSSAT & LES AUTRES – ALTERNATIVE OBLIQUE (4CD by Improvising Beings)

Improvising Beings is an interesting French label for improvised and assorted music, from past and
present, run by Julien Palomo. ‘Alternative Oblique’ compiles unreleased material from Foussat’s archive,
celebrating his 60th birthday. Recordings span a period of 42 years (1973-2015). We encounter Foussat in
different line-ups and projects. In total 28 musicians are involved. A man with a history. In the 70s he started
as a guitarist in prog rock groups, but soon started to experiment with magnetic tape and synths. He worked
with Jean-Francois Pauvros, Noël Akchoté , Jac Berrocal, Evan Parker, Roger Turner and many others.
This release offers a overview of his work through a bulk of recordings spread over four CDs. The first CD
features short pieces from 1973-1977. Experiments with homemade electric guitar and analogue synthesizers,
radio waves and magnetic tapes, with the prog-rock group Phyllauxckzairrâh N° III and the anarchistic prog-
fusion group Le Lézard Marçio. Many pieces are a bit fragmental and constructed like a collage. But how
experimental and adventurous these pieces may be, this is also music from another age. Though it has not
much in common with French underground artists from those days like Heldon. It is a strange mixture of
(free) jazz and electro-acoustic and electronic music. It is closer to early work of Franco Battiato or Faust,
considering the drive for experiment. The second disc has Foussat free improvising with the group Thrash
the Flash, playing analogue synthesizer, digital piano, tapes and voice with Marc Dufourd (guitar), Lea
Dufourd (vocals) and Jérôme Bourdellon (flute, clarinet). All recorded between 2000 and 2013. Again a
disc filled with experimental music, blending very different ingredients. Radical on the one hand, but using
well-known jazz and blues-formats on the other. But one again senses in their anarchistic playing, it is
freedom what counts for these musicians. The third disc documents Foussat’s experiments on the EMS
synthesizer. Four lengthy solo-excursions by Foussat. The first one ‘Loopé’ is a recording from 1975,
and sounds related to other extended synth-excursions from that time, like the ones of Besombes & Rizet.
The three other works date from 2011, 2013 and 2015 and have Foussat in a far more radical mood. Many
uncomfortable textures pass by, with unusual use of the human voice. Interesting stuff! The fourth disc
concentrates on recordings from 2015 of Foussat in different line ups with improvisers. We hear Foussat
in a battle with trumpeters Jean-Luc Cappozzo and Nicolas Souchal and trombonist Matthias Mahler,
followed by a improvisation with vocal artist Marialuisa Capurso and drummer Dirar Kalash. Then Foussat
in a trio with Joe McPhee (pocket trumpet) and Fred Marty (double bass). The CD closes with two
recordings from May 2015: Foussat in a duo with German drummer Paul Lovens. And a long improvisation
with Thomas Berghammer (trumpet), Raymond Boni (guitarist), Hans Falb (turntables), Irene Kepl (violion),
McPhee (saxes, voices and trumpet), Noïd (cello) and Makoto Sato(drums). This CD I liked most, because
it has fine interplay and dialogues of Foussat with accomplished improvisers. It is in these improvisations
that Foussat’s enigmatic playing with electronics flourishes. Included is a nice booklet with many photos
plus interview with Foussat. (DM)
––– Address: http://www.improvising-beings.com/

"This 4-disc anthology chronicles 40 years of unreleased material culled from Jean-Marc Foussat's archive, prepared for his 60th birthday. The first disc features short pieces from 1973-1977 that document his early sonic experiments with homemade electric guitar and later with the vintage portable analogue synthesizers, radio waves and magnetic tapes, with the prog-rock group Phyllauxckzairrâh N° III and the anarchistic prog-fusion group Le Lézard Marçio.

The second disc stresses Foussat's unique musical language in a free-improvised setting with the group Thrash the Flash, featuring him playing his analog synthesizer, digital piano, tapes and voice and with guitarist Marc Dufourd, vocalist Lea Dufourd and clarinet and flute player Jérôme Bourdellon. These recordings from 2000 and 2013 highlight his role as a sonic magician, producing a stream of spacey, noisy and weird sounds that are the driving force behind these wild, again anarchistic improvisations, even when the improvised textures tend to adopt a bluesy pattern.

The third disc traces the development of Foussat innovative musical language on the EMS synthesizer with clever usage of voice samples through four extended solo pieces. The first from 1975 is ethereal, minimalist piece but the rest are much more complex, multi-layered and feature this vintage electronic instrument as an infinite sound generator, producing a busy flow of disturbing, yet vivid and nuanced textures.

The fourth disc is the real treat, presenting Foussat "with others", in different ad-hoc free-improvised settings, all recorded in 2015. First with trumpeters Jean-Luc Cappozzo & Nicolas Souchal and trombonist Matthias Mahler in a 25-minutes of arresting sonic searches that highlight the emphatic interplay and the distinct voices of each of the musicians. Following is a sparse improvisation with vocal artist Marialuisa Capurso and drummer Dirar Kalash. The third is a haunting, cinematic texture, charged with Foussat brilliant usage of voice samples, with Joe McPhee playing only the pocket trumpet and experimental double bass player Fred Marty. The last two improvisations were recorded at Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf in Austria, when the gallery present its homage event to McPhee in May 2015. The first one is a delicate, short one with German drummer Paul Lovens. The second one is 25-minutes slow-burning improvisation that feature trumpeter Thomas Berghammer, guitarist Raymond Boni, the gallery mastermind Hans Falb on turntables, violinist Irene Kepl, McPhee on saxes, voices and trumpet, cellist Noïd and drummer Makoto Sato.

CD1

CD2

CD3

CD 4

Jean-Marc Foussat : Alternative oblique (Improvising Beings, 2015)