★Fou Records
Résume Of A Century
Fou has struck again. Jean-Marc Foussat has volunteered so much of his time to collect all this free improvised music in its most explosive, confusing and emotionally charged moments that his litany becomes infinite! Summary of A Century (in Memoriam Annick et Fred). The musicians: the career of Antwerp pianist Fred Van Hove is so special (and ultimately little known to cognoscenti) that it seems to me to be a symbol of openness, a quality intrinsic to this “kind of musical practice. In the mid-…
Soul Eyes
Piano/trumpet duets already carry their own dose of intimacy. Crystal and brass, woodwind and breath, there are many precedents in the history of our music, starting with Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor, two tender departed we spoke of a short while ago. This is exactly what Bernard Aimé explains in the liner notes to Soul Eyes, the new release from Jean-Marc Foussat's Fou Records label, which of course features a pianist and a trumpeter. The pairing is unprecedented, at least on record: Cécile C…
Assassins
At the beginning of the 80s, guitarist Jean-Francois Pauvros and trumpeter Jac Berrocal invented the trio Catalogue, responsible for a rather provocative crazy rock with its saturated voices and decadent lyrics... We remember "Khomeini Twist" from the 1982 album "Penetration". After Jean-Pierre Arnoux's brief appearance, Gilbert Artman sat behind the drums for three explosive vinyls which were to mark their era to the point of still resonating today. Sound recordist Jean-Marc Foussat, a long-tim…
Quartet Un Peu Tendre
Improvised music from Sophie Agnel, Kristoff K. Roll, Daunik Lazro.
Copenhagen
Sparkling Sessions featuring Jac Berrocal, Vincent Epplay and Tzarina re-Tuned. Recorded on the 8th and 9th October in Copenhagen.
Seuil de Feu
Xavier Camarasa - Fender Rhodes, Jean-Marc Foussat - Synthi AKS, voix jouets and Marc Maffiolo saxophone baryton
Escale
Xavier Camarasa - Fender Rhodes, Jean-Marc Foussat - Synthi AKS, voix jouets and Marc Maffiolo saxophone baryton
Gift
Recorded on December 1, 2009 at the Instants Chavirés in Montreuil. Marteau Rouge, legendary band composed of Jean-Marc Foussat (VCS3 synthesizer, toy voices), Jean François Pauvros (guitars, voices) and Makoto Sato (percussions). And the tenor saxophonist and soprano Evan Parker with whom Marteau Rouge had already recorded a CD, “ LIVE”, the year before, released by In Situ in 2009.Hammer Rouge is a trio focused in the tellurical, electric noise with Pauvros’s saturated and electrocuted guitar …
L'Ile des Trésors
Jean-Jacques Duerinckx: baritone and sopranino saxophonesJean-Marc Foussat: AKS synth, piano, toys and voiceRecorded live at Haekem Theatre. Brussels, the 16th of May 2023 by Jean-Marc Foussat
Rustiques
A study of contrasts as French improvising synth player Jean-Marc Foussat joins with legendary saxophonist & bass clarinetist Sylvain Guerineau, whose work in both jazz tradition and free playing finds him a lyrical and expressive player, bringing flexibility in combination with a seemingly disparate foil in Foussat, heard in six succint dialogs of unconventional compatibility.
"Recorded at home in November 2022 in the Loiret, this curious little regional river which gives its name to the depart…
Crusts
"Piano and reeds duet. More precisely, Didier Fréboeuf, the pianist, is also credited for clavietta and objects and the prompter Jean-Luc Petit, tenor and sopranino sax as well as contrabass clarinet. Three Crusts. Not badly chosen title compared to the improvised music that they play towards each other: these two do not stay on the surface of things. They work in depth on their exchanges by developing a nice variety of playing modes both on the keyboard and in the strings and on the reeds.
I ap…
Ecstatic Jazz (Crypte Des Franciscains Béziers 12 Février 1982)
"A newly discovered, enthusiastically received 1982 concert from three avatars of French Free Jazz captures the triumphs and the trajectories of improvised music at the time. Veterans, even at that time, saxophonist Daunik Lazro, now 78, and known for this work with Michel Doneda and many others; bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel (1948-2014), a Steve Lacy associate for years; and pianist Siegfried Kessler (1935-2007) who had a similar relationship with Archie Shepp; are as usual expressive and explora…
jouent pour Stephane Guillaumon qui danse sans faire de bruit
Duo live electronic improvisation by Jean-Marc Foussat and Leo Remke-Rochard. Recorded at the Dojo in Villeurbanne, France, on January 7th, 2023.
Libres (Festival de Massy 26 Octobre 1975)
"Armonicord. In 1977 an album was released under the name of Armonicord, of which I have just found a copy through a mutual friend: Esprits de Sel. Having heard of the album's release at that time, the memory of the presence of harpsichordist Odile Bailleux and drummer Christian Lete undoubtedly made me imagine a possible sort of chamber music. In the cover, we can admire the graphic scores of baritone saxophonist Jouk Minor, all in curves and ellipses with instrument and timing indications. A m…
Les Beaux Jours
"Intense and stormy "vintage" electronic music - ethereal loops or organ or keyboard effects - synalgias of the unresolved - (AKS by Jean-Marc Foussat) goaded and torn by the extreme bites of the soprano saxophonist (Guy Frank Pellerin). The feeling of duration of their improvisations (22, 19 and 25 minutes) diminishes as the spells fall in this weather of the emerging moment. A nice variety of games in the game phases means that we no longer follow the order of the music, nor its logic. We find…
Madly You
"Most Americans discover European improvised music using a map dominated by Amsterdam, Berlin, and London, which dwarfs and shoves the rest of the continent to the margins. At some point, however, even they realize the land lies differently. Yet, extensive exploration is required to correct the proportions, label the tributaries, and overlay the trade routes. In this endeavor, recordings become the coordinates that begin to flesh out the map's heretofore blank spaces.
Madly You is valuable in th…
Abattage
Tip! Jean-Marc Foussat (b.1955) is a French guitar player, VCS synth player, label founder and recording engineer. He played with a band called Mandragore in the 1970s, as wel as collaborating with Jean-François Pauvros, Jac Berrocal, Roger Turner, Raymond Boni and Claude Parle. In the 1980s he worked as a recording engineer for Incus, Hat Hut, Po Torch, Rec Rec, Celluloid, etc. He founded Potlatch Records along Jacques Oger in 1997. On ‘Abattage’ (1983), he self released his studio experiments…
Ombres onctueuses
*In process of stocking* New release by improvising synth master Jean-Marc Foussat, on this LP the pieces were recorded in Thoronet during the spring of 2022.
Gargorium
A Fou Records production, like a large part of the music of its producer, Jean-Marc Foussat, is a bit of a puzzle.