1. Please, tell us who is Cliff Hewitt…

Cliff Hewitt is first and foremost, a fan of all things electronica but I am also quite a private person. I have been fascinated by the way electronic drum sounds  and rhythms have influenced a wide genre of music over a long period of 40 years or so. I like to think of myself as a pioneering soud designer on E-drums and in some circles I’m known as the Grandfather of E-drums

2. When you started to play drums?

I started playing drums aged 15 and turned proffesional at 16 when I joined my first band who got signed to the legendary DinDisc label in the UK.

3. We mainly know about you when you were drumming with Apollo 440 but in which bands did you played before?

My first band was called Modern Eon from Liverpool. We released an LP and some singles to critical acclaim in the UK. I then formed my second band Virgin Dance with some minor success in the early 80′s  which morfed into Picnic at the Whitehouse and this exploded across Europe. But it was when I hooked up with Tackhead , Adrian Sherwood and the singer from my first band that I knew where my musical direction was going to take me for the next few years. Kieth LeBlanc became my drum hero and set the me on the road to all things E-drums . I worked with many artists over the next 10 years, From Michael Rose to Ronny Wood, all within the studio enviroment.

4. We are a web dedicated to Jean Michel Jarre, so let’s talk about JMJ: did you know his music before your collaboration together?

Of course, bieng an electronic music geak, I was a huge fan of the great French man

5. When was your first meeting with Jarre? What was your first impression about him?

After the 440 remix of Oxygen 10 and Rendez Vous, JMJ made a little appearence at a small show 440 did in Portobello Road in London and he seemed quite shy at the time but it was when we performed at the world Footballer of the year in1998 I really got to know the man. And at Rehearsals for Nuit Electronique we had such a laugh together as we are both genuinely funny men. some great moments indeed and what a guy !! He is actually very funny and very approachable.

6. Apollo 440 made the remix of Oxygene 10 and after, in the Getting High in Your Own Supplly album, the rythm of this remix was used in the song For Forty Days. Did you made this rythm for the remix?

The three main guys from 440 are actually very good drum programmers so it was, and still is, a combination of 4 drum heads with all the drum tracks over the years

7. Later you played Rendez Vous in Eurodisney, en January 1998, with Apollo 440 and JMJ. This is one of the few performances of JMJ that we can find any footage about it. Please, tell us about this performance.

Bieng complete football fanatics (440 are all Liverpool fans and we still make their football tunes when asked) this has to be one of the highlites in my career. To stand next to Pele, Charlton and so many footballing legends was quite simply overwhelming. Hehe.

8. The single Rendez Vous 98 was a huge success. Did you played with Apollo 440 and JMJ in the studio?.

Yes, and I sneeked a little bit of acoustic drum in somewhere, I thinnk.

9. In July 14th 1998, you performed with JMJ in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower, on the Electronic Night concert. How were your feelings to play in front of 800.000 strong audience and in that landmark??

At the start of rehearsals JMJ gave me the Musical Directors hat and believe me, we had to kick ass as we knew it was going to be the biggest show on the planet that year. Playing in front of the Eifel Tower on Bastille Day and after france had won the World Cup and infront of all those people  and with a hangover from hell ( I’d been celebrating too) was just the best feeling ever. It doesn’t get any better!!!!

10. How were the rehearsals for this concert? Please, tell us your memories about this concert and all surrounding this…

There were two rehearsal stages. The first set of rehearsals took place at JMJ’s studio in his home and this involved me inviting the various artists in so we could meet and do some programming for the songs being performed. As JMJ was with his lighting diriector most of the time, this allowed me to form how the live show was going to be applied. We then moved on to the Stade De France for production rehearsals for a week to make sure what I did in the studio worked to the smallest detail.

11. On september 1998 yo played again with JMJ in Paris in the iMac Night. How and when JMJ contacted with you for this project?

JMJ gave me a call some time before and asked could I come along and MD the show. This again was an amazing show as it was in 3D and the whole audience was wearing 3D glasses which looked pretty surreal from my my point of view. But a great night indeed.

12. Please, tell us about your memories about this concerts, rehearsals, etc…

My main memories were not much sleep, not much sleep and not much sleep!! But the overwhelming feeling was that I was performing with one of my all time heros. Something as a young e-drummer, I could only imagine. Getting on stage at Nuit Electronique and knowing that there was over a Billion people watching world wide was just mind blowing.

13. In the iMac Night concert, you played some of the classics of JMJ such Oxygene 2, Equinoxe 4, Chronologie 6, Revolution, Revolutions… it was hard to you to play this tunes?

No, not at all. When you’re a fan of someones music, it just form naturally in your head and I had the tools of my trade to help me and some fantastic musicians on stage, like Christoph Papindyick and Paul Kodish.

14. How was for you to work with JMJ??

It was a huge honour to work with the most influencial electronic artist in history.

15. Have you got any favorite song of JMJ?? And any particular JMJ album you like?

for me, I ever get tired of playing every track from the first JMJ LP. when you are young, you get inluenced a lot more and this record has so many great memories for me and fills me with emotions I don’t have with other records.

16. Why didn’t you collaborate again with JMJ after iMac Night concert? would you like to collaborate again with him in a future?

I don’t have his mobile number and he probably doesn’t have mine. If you can get us back together again  for a collaboration, I’ll buy you a drink or two

17. Are you still working with Apollo 440?

Yes, the 440 famaily are all  still busy working together and the new LP, The Future’s What Used To Be, should be out in a few days (January, 31). Looking forward to that and to the shows next year.

18. Now you are with Schiller. Please tell us a little about this new project.

I was invited to join Schiller live in 2006 and it has been an amazing journey ever since. Christopher Von Deylen is a true visionary and a great person. We are just on the last leg of his hugely successful “Klangwelten” tour in surround sound. And I am honoured to perform with some of the world’s finest electronic musicians. It’s a pure instrumental show and you have to see it to experience this world of sound and light. really amazing!!

19. And, please, tell us about your future musical projects.

I have my fingers in many a pie for next year. I want to release my solo project called Sly Diva, I have the next big Schiller tour, Apollo 440 release their new LP and will tour, Tangerine dream have invited me to perform with them and I need a bloody holiday !!

20. Have you ever played in Spain??

Yes, I’ve played in Spain quite a few times with 440. It rocks every time !! Looking forward to the next visit.

We all remember the Irish group The Corrs. Sharon Corr was one of the members of The Corrs, who did a collaboration with Jean Michel Jarre in the track “Rendez-Vous à Paris”, part of the album “Metamorphoses”. Sharon now has a succesfull  solo career with his latest album “Dream of You”. She has been kind enough to give this interview to Fairlight Jarre; we hope you enjoy it.

- How were your first steps in music?

Music was part of my life before I became aware of it, my Mum and Dad had a band together – so music was always being learned and performed in my house growing up! I taught myself how to play piano from a young age, my brother- Jim was fantastic on it so I just copied him and loved it! I started Violin lessons at 6 years old – didn’t enjoy them as much as piano because it was so difficult and disciplined but I am so glad I stuck with it because it has defined me and given me so much to be grateful for in my life!

- Tell us about your memories of your successful experience with The Corrs.

I have wonderful memories of The Corrs, To tour the world- to be loved by audiences all over the world was incredible. Meeting Nelson Mandel was a beautiful experience, what a wonderful man! Meeting The Stones and questing on their shows was sooo much fun! We also played for The Queen in Buckingham palace and President Clinton in The White House! These are such truly unique experiences ad we were very lucky to have them. Playing music is a joy. I have great memories of Spanish audiences – always so warm and great fun!

- How and when contacted Jean Michel Jarre with you?

It was in 1999 the year that Jean Michel Jarre asked me to collaborate with him. I was a big fan of Jean Michel and I was so proud and extremely shocked by the proposal to collaborate with him. He sent me the track of “Rendez Vous à Paris” and I was immediately excited with it.

- Do you have a favorite Jarre album?

As I said, I was a big fan of Jean Michel Jarre albums throughout my growth. I listened to “Oxygene” tirelessly! So is this, “Oxygene”, my album of Jean Michel Jarre preferred.

- How was the recording of “Rendez Vous à Paris” in the studio?

The truth is that we didn’t recorded the song together, we recorded separately. The two got together to play the track in 2000, during the concert at the Man Ray club in Paris.

- About your violin solo on Rendez-Vous à Paris, it was your own composition or the solo was composed by JMJ himself?

When Jean Michel sent me the track, I understood that part of the violin that I thought really worked in the song, so the solo violin was written by me.

- You recorded some other songs with Jarre apart of “Rendez-Vous à Paris”?

No, we didn’t record any other song.

- How was  for you to work with Jarre?

Wonderful, a dream come true. When I met him I found a very funny. What a charming and adorable man! And with that look so amazing … ageless!

- You were not at the concert in Egypt, where he premiered many of the tracks of “Metamorphoses”, why?

I’m pretty sure it was because at that time was on tour with The Corrs. I would love to play in Egypt with Jean Michel.

- You played with Jarre in the Man Ray Club in Paris in January 2000. How was the experience?

It was great fun and very exciting for me to perform with someone I admired sooo much! And always great to be in Paris!

- You and your brothers worked together with Jarre at the IFPI in defense of your rights as artists. What do you remember about that period?

I am very passionate about music and what it gives to people and how much it enriches peoples lives! It is important for me to support always the rights of composers and artists all over the world to own and exploit their own work, so they will always have reason to create such beauty. Jean Michel is also very passionate about this.

-  Do you keep the contact with Jean Michel Jarre actually?

We did for a while. I imagine there will always be a connection because we made music together.

- Would you like to collaborate again with Jarre in the future?

Yes, absolutely!

- Tell us about your future projects.

I just released my solo album “Dream of You”. I’ve been immersed in a tour of the UK and give a bunch of concerts in Europe this fall and winter.

- Are you going to perform in Spain soon?

Try playing in Spain later this year or early next. You will have more information at: www.sharoncorr.com

Natacha Atlas, the woman who bring “C’est la Vie” to life on the Jarre‘s “Metamorphoses” album, has kindly gave to Fairlight Jarre this brief interview. We hope you enjoy it.

- For those who doesn´t know you, who is Natacha Atlas?

I am a world music singer with Anglo-Middle Eastern and Belgian heritage.

- How were your first steps in music?

With UK band Transglobal Underground and Jah Wobble in the early 90′s

- When and how did Jean Michel Jarre contacted with you to collaborate with him in the album Metamorphoses?

He came to my show when he was writing ‘Metamorphoses’ and asked me to come by the studio to try some things.

- How were the first meeting with him?

He was an incredibly charming guy. Very polite

- Have you ever heard about JMJ before your collaboration? Have you got any favourite album or song of Jean Michel Jarre?

Yes I had heard of him before – and actually I like some songs on ‘Metamorphoses” the best.

- What was your first impression when you heard C’est la Vie for the first time?

I thought it was very interesting and a different approach to my music so we keen to try and do a great job on it.

- Please, tell us about your memories recording C’est la Vie in the Studio with Jarre…

Jean Michel was easy to get along with, very attentive to my needs in the studio. He is completely natural and totally unassuming person. He took very good care of me during the recording and also on tour when we did some shows together. Lovely lovely guy.

- Did you recorded with Jarre any other song apart of C’est la Vie?

No that was the only track we did together.

- How is to work with Jarre? Is he a good “boss”?

He always was extremely gracious. It didn’t feel like he was ‘the boss’. He treated me very well.

- You performed in the great concert of Egypt during the Millennium Eve, and we think that it was a great experience for you. Please, tell us about your memories about this concert, the rehearsals, the concert itself, the mood of the evening, and so on…

Wow – It was an amazing evening! ! There was an atmosphere of such exhilaration. It was something weird and wonderful – a huge event and I am very proud to have been a part of it.

- We heard that, regarding the concert on Egypt, Jarre and his team received some serious threats from the radicals… did this threats put pressure on you?

I was not aware of any of this. I certainly did not have any pressure put on me.

- One month after the Millennium concert, you performed with Jarre in Man Ray Club, in Paris, please, tell us about this concert…

That was a completely different evening. It was more for the press and media so very different that the show in Egypt. It was fine – the Man Ray Club was very exclusive and it was decorated fantastically – I remember that ! We had another great show.

- You made a brief promotion tour with Jarre in some european countries for TV programs, and Jarre talked at that time about the possibiltiy of making a tour in concert halls promoting the album Metamorphoses… Did you made any rehearsal or specific plans together about this tour?

We did some rehearsals together but I don’t recall there be any plans discussed. I really left all of those arrangements to Jean Michel and his management. Of course I was there when he requested rehearsals and we had fun preparing for it but I wasn’t involved in any specific plans.

- C’est la Vie were also performed by the greek singer Mando and the morocan singer Saida Charaf, did you heard their versions?

Ah, no! However I would like to hear these versions – I wasn’t aware of them but how wonderful anyway!

- Do you keep contact with Jean Michel Jarre actually? Would you like to collaborate with him again?

Actually I haven’t seen Jean Michel for years – we both live busy lives! I hope he is doing very well.

- Please, tell us about your next musical projects.

I am working on some composing for film and other projects including my new album which will be released in 2012.

With thanks to Liza Richards, from RedOz Music.

http://www.myspace.com/natachaatlasofficial

He is the man in the shadow, responsible that everything will be OK, that nothing fails. In the recording studio, as technician, or in tour, taking care that a half hundred of analog synthesizers will run perfectly. JEAN MICHEL JARRE finds in PATRICK PELAMOURGUES the professional and the confidence person able to confront that task with success.

Since 1978, the year in which PATRICK worked in the preparation and equipment of Croissy as a studio recording, he has become in a pound of the JARRE Team. But there is more life outer JARRE’s surroundings, and PATRICK shows it to FAIRLIGHT JARRE.

I am absolutely sure that lot of people had ask themselves it each time that they read in JEAN MICHE JARRE’s records “PATRICK PELAMOURGUES: Technical assistant”. What is your work exactly?

My work ¿ Ok, i have to take care of all the material : technic, instruments, software, hardwares (update, …) checking everything from the led that must be changed or removed, untill the cables. I also check and test all the material in ordre to be sure that everything is working fine. I save all the work (sound, pattern, preset…) as often as i can . i don’t wanna loose something.

Your first meeting with JARRE was in 1978 for the construction of the famous Croissy Studio. How did he find you? What do you remember of that first encounter :

A very good friend of mine was working there he knew JMJ was looking for somebody, so my friend introduce me to JMJ. That first encounter was very important and impressive : I’m a musician  keen on keyboards … I was in absolute accordance with my universe ! I couldn’t imagine that 30 years later I still work with him.  At that time, JMJ was perceived as a visionary “Alien”, and today he still remains !

Tell us about that JARRE’s first professional Studio. How it was?

That first JMJ’s pro studio … A very large space, with the mixing desk in the middle and  all around all his synths ! Amazing ,  really rudimentary in term of technology …

As long as I know your work at Croissy wasn’t absolutely related to technical and musical issues. You got the opportunity to show your great knowledge about cars and its care. Tell us about that facet of your life and specially about that episode..

That’s right ! I also put my fingers in the motors … it’s one of my passion ! I was very lucky because JMJ was completely confident in my ability to repair those old American cars and their motors ! (Cadillac, Buick, Thunderbird, Studbacker …) That passion we share with JMJ and a very good friend of him Christophe, the very well known French singer. I do love mechanic &  the sports related to cars (especially F1 race), I feel really pleased to repair and care those beautiful cars.

Now that Croissy has disappeared as recording studio, which are your special memories of that place

I have lots of pretty good memories of that place. I never feel like being constrained to go to work, you know ! A magnific place, JMJ’s dogs in the garden (BTW one of his dogs the oldest one beat me (poor dear she didn’t recognize me) at my bottom, I keep the tooth mark  until today !) Anyway a wonderful place, where I often met the whole family … JMJ’s mom used to say about me : I was like a can of pees  “you always must have one at home !”

When you started to work with JEAN MICHEL you were a very experienced tecnician that worked in several French clubs like the Club Med. You created your own company for recording studios’ maintenance (Musique Connexion). Tell us about that enterprise and early works.

Hahaaa ¡ The Club Med ¡ i was young, trying everything for fun … enjoying sun, sea and girls ¡ They didn’t pay alot, but i had lots of fun time ¡ I was musician creating and directing Musical comedies … I used to play the piano : very useful to pick up girls ;oDD ¡

Musique connexion ( my Cie) was created later on (10 years after my first meet with JMJ). Meanwhile, i ‘ve been working in music stores, in Karting (race car always …) and other recording ‘s studios like LA FRETTE STUDIO (Fairglight importer).

Finally you opened your own studio recording, with your long time friends FRANCIS RIMBERT and CHRISTOPHE GIRAUDON: FPC Studio.

Oops no ! my name is part of the trade mark FPC (Which means in fact : Francis, Patrick, Christophe) but it is only because we were looking for a nice and cool “name”. Then I helped in creation and set up of the material. However I still repair if needed. But I’m not working in that place (not enough time !)

You’ve work in FRANCIS RIMBERT records and his concerts too (we can see you working hard in “Lyon 2007” DVD). How is working too close with a so vital person as RIMBERT?

Before being a work relationship, Francis was a very good friend. We used to work together since a long time. It’s very easy to work with him because Francis exactly knows what he wants, it’s very simple & efficient. Moreover he always brings some candies (sweet chocolat teddies of which I’m completely fond of …)

Friends, special people…  I know there is someone who shares with you not just your profession since the beginning, but something more: MARIE LAURIE. We know she is a great professional and a better person. Tell us about her.

Haaaaa ! She’s an extremely talkative person, pretty funny, with a good temper ! Spontaneous & unpredicted, she uses to adventure into hazardous or exciting activities giving the priority to the feeling before the reason ! …. Anyway, I won’t “give” her to anyone, I’m gonna keep her until the end even old I wouldn’t change her for 2 “newest” (Though … should be discussed hahahaaaaa !)

In 1988, with “Revolutions” , you work again with JEAN MICHEL JARRE. That album marks the beginning of a constant collaboration. How was this new professional encounter?

Since 10 years we were working together, it was just evident,  the continuity of a pretty well anchored collaboration, based on confidence and friendship.

In that year you were involved in the recording of “Live” álbum, as testimony of the London concerts. Both concerts had a special guest: The rain. How much difficult is working with that element in an outdoor event for a sound technician?

The greatest difficulty due to this rainy or wet weather, lies in the fact that it takes lots of time, you know ! And during concerts what is missing : … The time ! We have to protect the keyboards,  to dry them with care, every day with the hair drier and cross our fingers so that there is no short circuit. On the other hand we’ve got some spectacular pix ! (A drop of rain on a cymbal…!)

In “Chronologie” you confronted a very interesting task: Rebuild the Digisequencer that 16 years before MICHEL GEISS designed exclusively for JEAN MICHEL JARRE. I must suppose that it was a great adventure to modify the most important instrument for that album that also was used in Europe In Concert Tour.

It was absolutely not a “rebuilding” rather a new creation on the same basis but with a complet & different philosophy , lots of new components were added much more efficient.  It was a total creation : all schems have been concieved by JC DUBOIS, manufactured and designed by MUSIQUE CONNEXION ML & myself (ML did almost all the weldings … !)

You’re right, we used the Digisequencer on stage during Europe In Concert Tour. Before each track I heated and dried it just in case, because of ambient moisture in order to eliminate the risk that the “touch-control” did not work.

Could I think that “Oxygene 7-13” was the most complicated JARRE’s album for you? Working with lot of analog synthesizers that were used in it, I must think that you get more responsibilities in the recording process. Indeed you appear in the credits of “Oxygene 7-13” as person in charge of recording with JARRE. How your work changes from, for example, “Revolutions” to “Oxygene 7-13”?

No I don’t think so. Even if it is complex du to the work it self (it’s a job, but I don’t think it’s the hardest in the world …!)  I was recording the audio into multitrack and midi (MPC 60 AKAI) at the same time. My work evolved in the way that now I have  much more responsibilities, of technical implications. JMJ entrusts more parts to me to be carried out.

Please, be absolutely honest: As sound engineer did you have part of responsibility in JARRE’s decision of creating 5.1 music for “Aero” album

If “Oxygene 7-13” had much sound complexity because of analog synthesizers use, “Téo & Téa” is its antagonistic, more digital and with reduced variety of instruments. The recording of this album agrees with the inauguration of the new studio of JARRE in Paris. Tell us about this album and the new studio.

Musically speaking I don’t have frankly work on this album, it was Dutch chosen by JMJ.

It is a splendid studio which I entirely carried out, very roomy, musicians like to be for rehearsals. Acoustic’s excellent and is voted by plebiscite by all the sound engineers who came there (whose Alain Courrieux, David Perreau …)

As an experimented sound technician how do you value the newest version of “Oxygene” released in 2007 as a new master recording?

I think that this new version is really pretty good, and that the technological challenge was to remake exactly the same thing that in ‘76. Beautiful prowess!

I suppose that for any technician installing in the same stage the greatest jewels of the analog synthesizers must be a fabulous dream… or a terrific nightmare?. But that’s what you are doing in the last 4 years. How did you confronted the challenge of working with the beauty and the instability of those “old ladies”?

In fact, I do this job since a long time … over 25 years !!!! All the concerts since ’88 ! It’s really my pleasure to set them up, to take care of them, to repair or adjust them, each time before the show, and more than this to show to everyone there’s something else that virtual instruments which don’t have the sound, which don’t sound at all !!! No, it is not a nightmare to work in those conditions ! it’s simply fabulous … It’s a dream, or almost.

In the last JARRE’s tours your work doesn’t finishes when the curtain falls. In fact is a continuous work, setting the instruments in a city and a few hours ago assembling the synths in a scene of a different country. In fact you’re the first one that appears in the stage, but the last who left it. How is the day-by-day of PATRICK PELAMOURGUES in tour?

Most of the time, it always begins like that : Wake up around 9h, then breakfast, Set up, lunch, tuning, rehearsals, sound check, line check, tuning again, diner, tuning once again, show, breaking down, loading of the trucks, shower, bus & sleeping ! Note that the catering (our personal restaurant) is just hummmm fantastic !  If I’m fortunate to have some free time, I try to have a walk in the city,  acting just like a tourist … ! but it’s not often …

JEAN MICHEL JARRE has announced that he is working in his next album, in which you collaborate. I don’t wish to put you in the commitment of revealing details of that album, but as you may know the JARRE community is really excited about this new music. So what can you tell us about this new release?

Right now, … NOTHING ! excepted some new “old” synths, that’s all !

In May a new tour will starts. I suppose you will be in the road again with the JARRE Team.

Yeap that’s right !

In the “2010” tour some digital synthesizers were added. Which new instruments will be on stage for this new tour?

Same as before, no big changes …. Excepted 1 or 2 surprises !

There are 4 years since you are touring around Europe with JARRE. I think is a good moment to analyze this great (and long in time) adventure. Please, answer briefly to this test:

• The Concert: Which is your favorite and why?: LA DEFENSE (even if its not in the tour you’re speaking about) :   IMPOSING
• The Anecdote: The most special you remember: Breakdown of bus in Tchec Republic! All gathered in the same bus, a bit strange in the morning, but anyway ok ;oD !
• The Scare: Possibly a few in a so long tour: The Out of order situation (Note : Patrick is never ever distressed, if it does not work, don’t worry let’s change it by another thing!  And in any event Patrick being a good technician, it works all the time hahaha)
• The Person: There must be a special partner who helps you in the tours: ALAIN CORRIEUX (Sound Ing.)
• The Synthesizer: Your favorite one on stage: I got 2 ARP 2600 & RMI
• The Music: The part of the tracklist that enjoys you much more: MAGNETIC FIELDS 1
• The Record: The CD (or vinyl if it works) you have hear a lot in this tours: ANNIE LENNOX & Herbie HANDCOCK (with the singer Pink of the track “Imagine”)
• The Travel: The city or the country you enjoyed more: LISBONNE

Finally, in addition to the new tour and JARRE’s record, in which future projects are you involved?

I never ever have enough time with JMJ !!! But I have nevertheless in project the acoustic system of 2 cinemas for some clients  (Home cinema). We just end the very first compilation with Dominique Perrier : SPACE ART, REVISED, and that’s enough for now ! ( PS if you buy me 150 cds of the newest compil , I’ll tell you which are the newest synths on stage for the new JMJ’s tour !!! hahahaaaaa ;oDDDD)

Ce fut un plaisir, à bientôt

My pleasure, See you soon

PP.

Thank you very much, PATRICK, for your time given to us not just for this interview, but everytime we had meet along the last tours. It has been a great satisfaction to transfer you all these questions. Good luck in your next projects.

Jerome Gueguen is the new member of the Jarre tribe since de abscence of Dominique Perrier for familiar reasons. Jerome kindly gave this exclusive interview to Fairlight Jarre. (With thanks to Zoolook 1980)

- For those who don’t know about you, can you please introduce yourself?

HELLO  I’M JEROME GUEGUEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- How were your first steps in music?

I learned classical piano since I was five years old. Later, I studied jazz and harmony.

- Did you know about the JMJ music before the beginning of your collaboration together?

Of course! The Music of JMJ is very well known here in France. He is famous composer with great aura.

- You went on stage during the second half of the tour 2010, but did you went to any concert of JMJ before you entered in the band?

I saw many shows of JMJ on video (Huston, La Defense, Beijing…)

- How were your first meeting with JMJ?

Our first meeting was about ten days before my first show with JMJ. Dominique had presented me to JMJ for replace him for a few concerts.

- You  assumed the role of Dominique Perrier during his abscence of the tour. Was hard to learn of his musical parts?

It was hard work because very quick. Dominique helped me during a few days. He was very attentive to explain to me the JMJ’s concept.

- How is to work with JMJ? Is he a good boss? And about the band, did you felt integrated in it since the first moment?

Jean Michel is really nice with everybody on the tour but he is also precise about what he wants. Claude helped me a lot on the firsts shows.

- How much of Jerome Gueguen are in the parts that you play on stage with JMJ and how much of Dominique Perrier are in those parts?

My position was to be quiet of the Dominique’s  play. With time and shows I understood that the JMJ’s music is really open and authorize liberty and improvisation. Every show is very different.

- What is your favourite JMJ track to play live on stage? And what is that JMJ song that is more difficult to play or that you don’t like to play on stage?

It’s a real pleasure to play this set. A lot of Hits !

About what I’ve said before, “RENDEZ VOUS IV”  give me a large place for a kind of improvisation.

- Do you remember any funny moments during the tour? And any bad memories on stage?

There is a very good mood on the tour. Big thanks to all with a special mention to Claude, Francis and the Boss JMJ… and Dominique.

- In July 2010 you performed that unique concert in Spain, in Santiago de Compostela. Please, tell us about your memories about that magnificent concert.

For me it was my first show whith JMJ in an exceptional place. Great audience!!!

- Are you going to be on the 2011 leg of the tour? If so, are you going to visit South America, EEUU and Asia? Any concert in Spain in 2011?

I expect I’ll be there… That’s a nice program.

- JMJ is working on a new album due to be released in 2011. Have you work or are you working actually in this album?

Wait for JMS’s surprises.

- You play in the mitical band Gwendal and in the celtic band Stone Age, with Dominique Perrier. Please, tell us about your future projects with these bands.

Gwendal will play this year in Spain and Stone Age is working on a new release.

2011 marks the celebration of  the 25th anniversary of the Houston and Lyon concerts. One of the musicians who were on that legendary concerts was Kirk Whalum who performed live Ron’s Piece, a song made for Ron MacNair to be played on the Challenger space-shuttle. Kirk Whalum kindly gave us this interesting interview.

- For those who don’t know who are you, please tell us who is Kirk Whalum?

I was born and raised in a town called Memphis, but we call it Soulsville. It’s a place, similar to New Orleans, where music is so much a part of the culture that sometimes we don’t even realize it! But along the way I was introduced to the revelation of God’s love and grace in Christ. I realized that the solution to humankind’s problem (including my own problem) of rebellion against our loving creator, had come to earth in the form of the “God/Man” Jesus. I accepted Him into my heart with many tears, and now those tears continue––tears of profound joy!!! And that is who I am. You can hear those tears in my music. Pueden oir estas “lagrimas de gozo” a traves de mi musica.

- How were your first steps in music?

I have wanted to be “in a band” since I can remember. The first instrument I got was a drum, then a bass guitar. When I heard that my uncle (Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum) played the saxophone in St. Louis, I knew that I wanted to play saxophone too. I started at age 12, now I’m 52!

- Did you know about JMJ and his music before Houston concert?

I had never heard of JMJ, which is interesting because I had studied French in Paris at age 19. The time I spent in France was such an overwhelming culture shock (the good kind!) that I didn’t get around to listening to much French music.

– The year 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the Houston and Lyon concerts, both legendary events. Let’s talk about Houston . I’ve heard that you were close friend of Ron MacNair. Was it the main reason of your involvement in the event? How were your first meeting with Jean Michel Jarre?

Actually the story of meeting Ron is very funny. I met him when he came to hear me play at a local club in Houston in the early 80s. Then the next time he came, trying to be a good host, I said, “Good evening my friend, I remember meeting you! Tell me again what you do, aren’t you an airline flight attendant?” !!! He looked at me, he wore thick horn-rimmed glasses and was extremely “nerdy,” and said calmly; “I’m an astronaut!!” We were friends from that point on. He asked me to help him arrange a saxophone piece to record in the space shuttle. Unfortunately I never got a chance to do it.

Meeting JMJ was a thrill! By the time I met him I had done the research to know how BIG of a star he was, as well as Charlotte Rampling. But he was extremely kind and very humble. He worked with me very patiently to convey just how he wanted me to play the melodies.

- Please, tell us about your recollections of the Houston concert.: The rehearsals, the concert itself, your stunning performance of Ron’s Piece, etc…

There were only a few run-throughs. The piece that I played was very dramatic so I wanted to be sure I was interpreting it according to his vision. There were lots of things to coordinate because each piece was choreographed with lights, fireworks, etc. So there were many people running around with “walky-talkies.” And of course I felt the responsibility of representing Ron because his wife Cheryl is the one who requested that I play his part.

- Six months later of the Houston concert, you performed in Lyon. Please, tell us, like in the question about Houston concert, about your recollections of this very special concert.

I really think that the Lyon concert was more stressful (and exciting!) for JMJ and his crew. The fact that they were back in their country where JMJ was extremely famous, and that the concert was for “l’arrivé du pape” (the arrival of the pope) made everyone that much more tense. In the end it was truly a joyous occasion and most of us even shed tears because of the general goodwill and joy amongst so many people. They loved and respected John Paul a great deal. The scene was also extraordinary (in a very different way from Houston). We were set up on a bridge over the river in the middle of town!! Lyon is such a breathtaking place… It was very memorable.

- The solo you performed in Rendez Vous 4 in the Lyon concert is stunning, absolutely. The creation of the solo belongs to you or was a JMJ idea? Who composed the solo, you, JMJ, someone else..?

I suppose the solo was a collaboration between JMJ and myself. Of course the melodies were written, but I was charged with bringing the melody to life. He seemed to be quite a fan (and quite knowledgeable) of jazz and improvised music. So the point of having me, especially with my more gospel-based approach to melodies. He wanted it to be both soulful and free. So the original melody sounded very different from the final version.

- How is working with JMJ? Is he a good “boss”?

He was indeed! “Il était un trés bon chef!” He was very intense, very focused.

- After the Houston and Lyon concerts have you kept the contact with JMJ? Have you ever met again with JMJ after the Lyon concert?

I have not. I would love very much to work with him again someday!

- Do you like JMJ music? If so, apart of, obviously, Ron’s Piece, is there any JMJ track or album that you specially like?

I do. I really enjoy Les Concert en Chine. But of course my favorite is Rendezvous Houston! Watching him play the laser harp was quite dramatic!

- Ron’s Piece is such an emotional track… It talks about your friend Ron: How are your feelings when you hear this track?

It was extremely difficult to think of how Ron perished. He had small children and was also a member of my church. He taught martial arts to children and was very involved there at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. It was so sad to think that he would have been there performing the song himself had he not died at such a young age.

- Are you following the current projects of JMJ?

I have not heard JMJ’s music lately, but I’m glad you mentioned it. I’m going to check out his website!

- Apart of JMJ you have worked with many artists like Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston (you collaborated on her hit the Bodyguard) and many others… Please tell us a bit about your work with these artists, about your solo work and your future projects.

You’re right, I have worked with too many artists to remember! But the two you mentioned were perhaps the two most memorable and for which I am the most proud. I never imagined that I would tour and record with such artists. I am happy that I can tell my grandchildren some of the things I was able to see… including hundreds of thousands of people joyfully welcoming the pope to Lyon, and over two million people in Houston celebrating NASA and Texas!

- Please, tell us a bit about the Soulsville Project.

The Soulsville Foundation (a non-profit) is the parent organization of three entities: The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the Stax Music Academy, and the Soulsville Charter School. Of course you must make a special trip to “Soulsville” (Memphis!) to see this one-of-a-kind museum. There is no place like it in the world, especially since so much music, so much famous and powerful music, was made right there on that corner. Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, The Staple Singers… on and on. Songs like I’m A Soul Man, Hold On I’m Comin’, Sitting On the Dock Of the Bay and others were recorded at Stax records during the 60s and 70s. It’s hard to find a spot in the world where this music is not cherished. So we try our best to celebrate it, and of course to push it forward into the future through the museum and the academy.

- And, last but not least, have you ever performed in Spain or visited the country?

Desafortunadamente solamente una vez! Con Whitney Houston en 2000 (??) Hemos visitado a Barcelona por las vacaciones (mi esposa y yo) y amamos muy fuerte su pais! Tapas, manchego, los vinos de españa, paella… hmmmmm!!! Ojala que recibe una invitacion para venir con mi propio grupo!!

- Thank you very much, Kirk, for your kindness with us and best regards from Spain.

Me encanta mi amigo!

http://www.kirkwhalum.com/

http://www.soulsvilleusa.com/

After a research on Internet, our friend Víctor “Zzero” Maqueda finally made contact with that strange man who joined Jean Michel Jarre in the single “Freedom Day”/”Synthetic Man“, Samuel Hobo. Nobody before, on the JMJ fan side, could ever make an interview with Hobo, so, we are glad to offer you this interview with this singer and musician. Enjoy it.

- Please, tell me about your first approach to Music as singer or player. Who were you influences?

The first time I heard Sonny Boy Willamson it was a revelation for me and Curtis Jones and Freddy King too.

- Did you have a music band in those early years? Where was you’re first concert or performance?

I started with to play with amateur band and right after I switched to Cutis Jones as an accompagnement harp player.

- When did you find JEAN MICHEL JARRE? He told us that you were studying in Paris (he also said your father is American) and there he meet you. He was amazed by your deep bluesman voice.

I’ve been introduced to Jean Michel Jarre by some his accointance as I was visiting a recording studio. During those days I was a teacher in Paris. The truth about my father is that the american cityzenship has been offered to him for services to the army during the second world war.

- In 1972 you released your first record, the 7” single “Freedom Day/Synthetic Man”. You composed the lyrics and JARRE the music. This record was released by Az Records in France and Italy, with different sleeve. How do you remember that special event?

This 7″ has been recorded at his flat using 6 Revox taperecorders all syncro together. He had one of the very first mini-moog . The acoustic levelling correction was made with egg boxes. Over all it was a very exciting experience for me.

- Did you composed or recorded more songs for release? Were there any “B sides” of that musical adventure?

There are no unreleased tracks .

- I know that there were some TV appearances playing this songs. Anyway is really difficult to get this video document. Tell me more about your TV and radio promotion with “Freedom Day/Synthetic Man” record.

We never had any TV appearances infortunatly for us and for you. In short Freedom Day/Synthetic Man was intended for clubs and radios air play.

- Did you play in concert this songs?

Never

- There is a peculiar element in your public image: Your incredible glasses, that you showed in “Freedom Day/Synthetic Man” sleeve. It was a absolutely crazy and a little bit freak idea.

Yes, this public image you discribe was the reflection of our state of mind.

- 1973 was a continuation of your collaboration with JARRE. You wrote the lyrics for “Zig Zag”. This song was releases in several countries and published under several artist names: The Superfly, Jo Sherman, Electric Choo Choo Band, Foggy Joe… In which of this projects were you involved? What do you think about other artist versions, for example the Brazilian version of TONY LOPEZ?

I was unvolved the Foggy Joe name. I never heard of Tony Lopez and his version.

- “Zig Zag” was a success. Was used in TV and also included as part of “Les Granges Bruleès” OST, composed by JARRE. I think it was special for you.

I was pleased to know it had been used in OST movie .

- In 1973 you launched your second 7”, “Pusher Pusher/Just Come Back Home”. This record marks a new direction of your music. You recorded it with a complete band behind you. Tell me about this experience

I recorded Pusher Pusher doing all the track myself . The B side has been recorded with american musicians.

- After this release we didn’t know much more about you. What have happen in those last years?

After Pusher I recorded documentary music, songs for children “Titi et gros minet” Warner Bros Edition. Later I also recorded tales’music for France Culture and education shows. I was also working in a new single with my long time friend , the guitarist Francis Fima. He brought to the recording studio to my surprise the Muscle Shoats brass section . It is unforgettable memory to me. Unfortunately the single has never been released. I spend several years doing recordings with Francis Fima. Many of these recordings have been released and edited at Parsiparla Editions. Also I created my Swiss group “Trans Alpic Trio” and we released a CD and had many performances through Switzerland.

- In the present you still being in Music with CITYSHAMAN project. Let me tell you that it sounds great, as a revitalizing blues sound. Tell me about this adventure.

My encounter with V.S.V allowed me to create the Cityshaman Music with modern sounds, ethnics and jazz influences.

- What about the future?

CITYSHAMAN, DIGITAL MAGIC TEAM, LIVE EMOTIONS BAND, MATIN TRANQUILLE ALBUM with the guitarist Michel Gentils, HARMONICA NO LIMIT ALBUM of SAM BENZO are actually for sale on iTunes .

- Did you tried to contact JARRE after your early collaborations? I can sure you that he remembers you as a great musician and a very good friend.

Yes I tried to get in touch with him by the Facebook Network or MySpace , but the connection was impossible.I remember also Jean Michel Jarre as a good guy and a great composer and I hope to meet him again.

I am very pleased and honored for your interest in my life and music.

All my very best.

Sam Benzo

http://www.myspace.com/benzoroots

http://www.myspace.com/cityshaman

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/sam-benzo/id287943118

Íker Jiménez is a very famous spanish journalist, hosting very successful TV and radio shows, writer and… fan of Jean Michel Jarre. He has just released a double CD album (“Cuarto Milenio”) containing, among others, three JMJ tracks. Íker, very  kindly, has given this moving interview to Fairlight Jarre.

- Do you remember when was the first time you listened to Jean Michel Jarre?

Perfectly. It is a beautiful story, at least for me. From my childhood I remembered the notes of Oxygene 4 in a recurring dream. I saw, floating, or maybe in a watchtower, watching from the heights the most emblematic square in my hometown Vitoria. In short, such are the dreams. Surely all this was the result of the hearing, almost unconscious, in a television report of the time. I could hum the melody perfectly, but not related to any musician. In a test at school, and at 17, a friend of mine, French,  heard me from behind the desk singing the sounds of Oxygene 4. You know that that song was composed  by a French artist who  my father adores? Said my friend. I was shocked. I thought that was the soundtrack of a childhood dream, returning every so often. At first I said no, you are kidding. That was the line of my dream! I borrowed the CD and the cover impressed me. The world beneath looming, the skull. One of the biggest thrills of my life was the precise moment, I’m seeing, which I first heard and “real” Oxygene. A few months later, a twist of fate, I began my first radio program in a little town, with the music. At the station I look forward to three Jarre CDs. That was my luggage. It did not take more.

- When did you fell in love with the music of Jean Michel Jarre?

At that time. I went with a friend to a small local radio station. There I understood that Jarre’s music fit like a glove in the stories we had. Stories, mysteries and not a few cosmic travels. Jarre sounds generated a kind of “expansion of consciousness.” It’s hard to explain but you feel it. I remember that every Sunday afternoon we went there by hitchhiking. Our parents did not know anything. It was like an adventure. Every time we put the CDs, and some vinyl, and Equinoxe, was like a spaceship about to take off. Everything was transformed. Jarre was prompting the magic! I still keep some recordings as a treasure. Twenty years have passed and I now remember it as if I were watching the red Light right now.

- Being a fan of Jean Michel Jarre we will imagine that you have many of his albums, but do follow their current jobs? Do you have all his albums?

I think I have all Jarre albums. I have a colleague and fellow fan that it is a die hard fan. This is Nacho Ares. Sometimes he brings me “rare” things that I already are beyond my control. I really do not know much about music. I limit myself to feel and to enjoy it. Nacho brings me some things with devotion, wiping his hand on top. What he does when he sees ancient Egyptian pieces. The last thing he gave me is a vinyl, small, with pre-Oxygene music.

- What was the first JMJ album you bought?

The first was Oxygene. I heard hundreds of times. It became the soundtrack of my life. And, somehow, nothing and no one has taken that privilege. For example, I have written nine books and hundreds of articles, almost always been accompanied by his music. Music singular. I believe in it as a means of inspiration. As a way to transform everyday reality. And more than 50% of cases Jarre’s first records were the “companion” of my Works and travels. Not bad.

- What about your favorite JMJ track?

There are many. Oxygene 4, as I already mentioned, iIs the theme with which “I saw the light.” Oxygene 2 and 6 also seem to me something sensational. With the thrilling notes of part 2 I still get goosebumps when I put in the SER. The songs are linked to very powerful research and adventures. Oxygene 1 is, for me, the cosmic background, dust of stars, the Infinite Universe. The first four tracks of Equinoxe seem tremendous to me. Right now, as I´m answering, I’m listening to it here in my den, surrounded by thousands and thousands of books. The first track of Rendez Vous gives me goosebumps. The same is for rarest pieces like Arpegiator, or Magnetic Fields 4 or Waiting For Cousteau and his “long piece,” another memorable background. Like Globbe Trotter. Also Mury. And I like almost everything of Aero and Oxygene 7-13.  And I left many out of the list. Sure.

- Do you have been accompanied by the music of Jean Michel Jarre in your travels? Is there any JMJ track linked with your investigations?

Of course. Recently, making the contents of  booklet and the music of the Cuarto Milenio CD, I remembered loto f things. Jarre´s music has supported me by mountains, volcanoes, tunnels, caves with prehistoric paintings, by roads on four continents. I can not imagine a research trip without Jarre. The latter, made a couple of weeks ago a very interesting case occurred in the plains of Burgos,  I took the CD with the 22 songs. It sounded like heaven. There are three Jarre tracks. And when that tracks sounde, the travel, the thrill of uncertainty and research takes on a meaning very exciting for me.
It’s funny, I don´t hear anything on the radio or TV or read anything. Never. I like being me, with my success and my many mistakes. It is an anomaly, especially on TV. And I give a lot of trouble to my team, so unexpected. But the contrast happens with the music. Every Saturday, for hours, I lisen hundreds of music, choosing, putting them in order to Milenio 3 radio show. I give a vital imporance to the music, Because it tell us things. It give us amplified sensations. It helps us to think and internalize. Or it give us excitement about the epic adventure. It is not a mere ornament. For me it’s own language. When words and music “connect” a small miracle occurs. And these are the miracles I seek, with varying degrees of success, every weekend through the waves.

- Have you attended a live concert of JMJ?

No. I’ve been close to buying tickets for some concerts. I remember one in Spain for about eighteen years from, what it was cancelled, I think. If I see Jarre, with all its art, its visual concept, live, I could die!!. I am a person who admires artists, geniuses. Those who show a bit of our smallness as human. But that encourage and motivate us to learn. Jarre is for me a reference in this regard. Self-improvement, experimentation and artistic sensibility.

- We assume you have seen many of his shows on video, but what is your favorite?

It’s funny, I was very excited to see this experiment, almost Pettit committee, almost bare of paraphernalia, seeing how it sounded with old equipment Oxygene. Both front and back of Jarre’s Oxygene and Equinoxe have something … different. Special. It is essentially cosmic music!

- The double-disc compilation that was just released, Cuarto Milenio, includes tracks of JMJ and the booklet contains a prologue written by him and also an interview with him by yourself, how did that meeting with JMJ? When and where was it?

Everything happened in a space capsule orbiting around a distant planet. I would have liked to find me in that case! And Jarre and I with the sideral suits of Equinoxe back!
It was very special to ask a few things to JMJ. It have been very unexpected answers. The truth is that everything has been wrapped in an aura of mystery. Some things, best not to be revealed. His belief in extraterrestrial life and a thousand things, I have a lot of attention. Jarre could not think otherwise. So I said to myself. I would have liked to have more time to send him a thousand questions. There will be more opportunities. I have to say that my friends and Bernardo Rivavelarde Nacho Ares have been able to draw a lot more contact with him. In that respect I envy them.

- Could you tell us what  the music of JMJ means to you?

Jarre, as explained in the booklet, of about 80 pages, because this issue is not trivial and deserves involvement on my part to explain some things, has been a sidekick. He has enhanced mythical and unforgettable moments. Findings, difficulties, desire for improvement. I have been a boy with dreams. And I’ve been to those dreams. Without thinking for a moment to take shortcuts that lead to other paths. With eleven years and I did some videos, with a Betamax camera, which resemble, in essence to Cuarto Milenio. That is the truth. Therefore, I decided to live a life counter to the politically correct, of course. A road is not easy to navigate. But I was and I am full of enthusiasm. And Jarre is the soundtrack of it. Of this enthusiasm so personal. His music has made me extremely happy. A thousand times on routes around the world, I opened the door, in solitude, in the open field, and have left his music sound. For me there is a connection between the future and the ancestral in Jarre’s music. The musical composition itself – as he says in the CD- is  a mystery. A mystery as he spin the tunes. As they grow independently. The process of artistic creation as something that makes us unique. Jarre, his music, for me it’s excitement, travel, surprise, mystery, stars, question marks, infinite. I feel it, like every masterpiece, as the exciting beat of life.
For that reason I like to be surrounded with those things. For that reason now it’s sounding here Equinoxe 6.

- Did you know about our website, Fairlight Jarre? If so, what do you think of it? Have you ever entered into our Forum, even anonymously?

Yes, I browsed through the web and I congratulate you. For example looking for specific information on albums. It is not easy the work that you do. This onlycan be understood from within. This is a great work, the work that you are doing. I think this is the first web to find information Jarre in which I entered many years ago, and I said in that moment “Here there are people who feel what are doing.” And  in the end that’s all that matters, you know? Believe in what you do. In your work. Be lonely or misunderstood. Jarre did so in 1976. And so do many, including you, in the little challenges of life. I admire those who do things with enthusiasm. And I like your site by this reason.

Thank you for your attention and your kindness Iker. We wish you a continue success on radio and television and, of course, with the Cuarto Milenio CD. Cosmic hugs,  my friend!

Same here. It is a project that I have been envolved with to the fullest. I  selected personally each song, writing pages about each of them. And I assure you, the project has no outstanding financial compensation. But I think is a good gift if it comes to good hands, to open-minded and unconventiona handsl. I have been involved because I only know to do things like that. I love that one guy, somewhere, felt all these emotions that I felt myself with those songs. Maybe this music will help him get excited, an impulse to achieve his goals.
There’s no money to pay for it. Hopefully we will achieve that goal.

Spanish music radio would not exist as we know it today without the work done by RAFAEL REVERT. Journalist and broadcaster of vocation but heart and soul music lover, this Madrid borned of indeterminable age (due to “read Dracula” as advocated by JEAN-MICHEL JARRE) music lover of Elvis (he was in his burial) and LITTLE RICHARD and creator in the 60s of Los 40 Principales-first as a radio program, then as a group of stations, and Cadena 100 radio station in the 90, has seen some of the most important musical events of the last half century.
In 1981, invited by the late Polydor label, had the rare opportunity to travel to Beijing to cover for Cadena Ser radio station and El Gran Musical magazine the first of the two concerts of the tour JEAN-MICHEL JARRE in post-Maoist China .
It would not be the only opportunity to experience firsthand the shocking experience of the monumental concerts of  JARRE: Houston in 1986 and the London Docklands in 1988 were the scenarios were REVERT captured the details, anecdotes and musical extra paradoxes surrounding these unrepeatable events.
The memories and experiences of those concerts, especially the 1981 Beijing ones, viewed almost 30 years later, serve to clarify many of the doubts that the followers of JEAN-MICHEL JARRE have accumulated over the years, bringing surprise and unpublished data that enrich the widespread view that we have documented about these little concerts. A member of Fairlight Jarre, Victor Maqueda had the opportunity to meet Rafael:

——

I find RAFAEL REVERT in Pozuelo. From the first second this living legend of music journalism and active displays his knowledge of the aura of which has worked all his life. Knowledge alone is comparable in size to the kindness with which he treats the listener and his efforts to rescue the memory of every detail which he is interrogated about. 

FAIRLIGHT JARRE (FJ): How did the idea of going to China?. Because it is clear that by being a journalist envolved with the music media you already knew about the work of Jean-Michel Jarre.
RAFAEL REVERT (RR): It was an invitation that JEAN MICHEL JARRE made to the record companies of each country. I called by Polydor and they suggested if I wanted to go to China with JEAN MICHEL where he was going to make a live album. And of course, you wanted to do it, but I did not know what it was China at that time.

FJ: Certainly you were the only Spanish journalist who covered the concerta in China in 1981. But it is also the team that traveled to China during Mao’s tour was somewhat reduced, isn’t it?
RR: There were several journalists invited. There was a Norwegian named Hans, another of the Netherlands Radio and had a Frenchman who was a writer (editor’s note: possibly JEAN LOUIS REMILLEUX), and that we were always together. And then there was a group of French and English, who were sound technicians, lighting, recording, … And of course, was also Charlotte Rampling, who was quite striking. Nor had many occasions to see her, because journalists and the team that went to work got us into a hotel that was called something like “The peoples and friendship”, a very comunist name, which was 20 kilometers from Beijing, so you have to be controlled all time. Because obviously, we were in the China of Mao Zedong, communist 100% radical, and the were watching the strangers suspiciously. In the latter of Friendship hotel on each floor there were about 15 Chinese to take your luggage. There is prohibited the tip. There were you stuck with your suitcase. Look, there they told me that scared the children with us. They said “look, look, those are the devils.” And the kids look at you with a scary face. To exit the hotel had to take a taxi, which were all controlled by them, and the bus could not go because theydidn´t  know  where you wanted to go because they do not understand anything of our language. We had some hassles … I remember when the rest of the team went on to Shanghai and I stayed to catch the plane back to Spain, the guide, who was desperated with me, told me “what a joy that you at last are going to return to your country, so I’m going to have less problems from now.”
Everything was very closed. I bought a Spanish-Chinese Dictionary and I approached a girl and said “hello beautiful” andI pointed to the dictionary to go for tea or something. And talking about two words with her there were two guys dressed in civilian clothes, were bound for the girl and told her to leave. There were always two guys who followed you, went to the local chinese and frightened him or her.

Imagine, back then we did not know what was the roast duck or Peking duck, but the French journalist who came with us had a Michelin restaurant guide and knew about a restaurant with that meals. So we took a taxi and, with many problems with the taxi owner, ultimately he took us to the place. We arrived at the restaurant at about 12 in the morning, which was absolutely empty. However they hinted that it was not possible to eat there because it was fully booked;  ”And at night?” we asked and thet said “no, all booked”.
For here you could not be out of the program. They planned this team is going to go here and there and you could not jump the dial plan. Two days after arriving, we were lead to visit a collective farm of those who are there to demonstrate their sociological progress, but then we caught the guide and told him we wanted to eat roast duck, and told him what had happened to us. And he said no, it was not possible. Then we said that journalists were not going to go see the farm. For in the end we looked for a restaurant where we eat roast duck till die, delicious!

One day we went to visit the Great Wall of China… You get up very early, going on a bus for two hours, and to the lunch time we had all a tremendous hunger. And the guide comes with a cardboard box with an apple, ham and cheese sandwich, a bottle of water … As we came the smell fantastic Chinese food nearby, tremendous. And again we ask the guide to eat at that site, which was a restaurant, but said “not possible, not possible.” For the French and British, as always, stayed there with their little box. But I went to the restaurant, went in and asked me which group I belonged to. I said, slightly laughing, that of Jean-Michel Jarre and he said “no” and I had to left the site. Then I saw a group of Americans came, I slipped between them, and finally I got into the restaurant. When I came out and told the guide  where I ate and he got ver angry. Anyway, it was a really nice trip, besides we could not talk to any Chinese to ask what it was like, what happened … But I had a great time.

FJ: When did you made contact with JARRE in China?
RR: We were in the rehearsals of the first day and another day we were with JARRE and his wife to visit the Forbidden City. That’s what I have a tape recorded in Super 8, I hope someday I could show you the tape. At the time I knew a little about JARRE, and he had a daily schedule of things to do, and there was no time to roll. I’ve always seen hims as a very compliant and very serious for the job. And in China, except the day we were in the Forbidden City and the rehearsals of first gig, the day before, I couldn’t have more contacts with him. Note that was the first Western artist who played there.

FJ: You just mentioned that you attended a rehearsal in China. JARRE was there?
RR: Yes, what I saw was the first day rehearsal and he rehearsed with his band for about three hours. It was just a musical rehersal, because it was in the morning. I do not know if in the evening they did a test of laser lights.

FJ: You said that you did not continue the tour with the team JARRE to Shanghai, so you were at the two concerts in Beijing (21 to October 22, 1981)

RR: I always remember the first concert. At that first concert the group played alone. Sure, the music is not JARRE it very easy to assimilate and less by the Chinese who had no idea what that was all about. Then at a half hour or so I was always filming things with my Super 8 camera and see that suddenly the Chinese started to get up and leave. I wonder what was going on, I go with the camera behind them, and I see that come to a yard full of buses, because the audience was on the outskirts of Beijing. Apparently the Chinese were getting into buses to leave, because probably they didn’ enjoyed the show (editor’s note: could also be that at that time the last bus departed, as the concert started very late.) Then came a guy there with a megaphone shouting and I guess he should say something like to back all the Chinese to the hall again unless he was going to cut their necks or something like that, and made them get off the bus and return to the auditorium. 
This issue do not happen the next day, in the second concert. JEAN MICHEL played with a Chinese orchestra, which was really nice, something more familiar to the Chinese. And people enjoyed, cheered for minutes and minutes and did not move at all. It could be another type audience. JEAN MICHEL also enjoyed a lot. For though he played in the concert back to the audience, facing a great keyboard, just as the first night, he would not notice much the movement of the audience in the first night. And although since then I have spoken with him numerous times, as this issue was something a bit strange, I have not ever come to discuss anything like that.

FJ: It is said that in the first concert the audience was mostly made up of military staff. Have you noticed that?
RR: Yes, ther were military staff. But they were not distinguished, because only there were people dressed in green and blue. Well, you did not know who was who and if they were something.

FJ: In the two concerts in Beijing, in your category of journalist where you were located?
RR: Well, I were all around the hall. We had a seat assigned, but nobody said anything and I was in there with the camera, filming in a place in another. I hardly sit for these concerts, in fact I’m rarely sitting at concerts. Now yes, but then was around gossiping, watching where people were, what was behind the stage, enjoying and having a great time. By the way, I did quite a few films on Super 8 in these two concerts and recorded about 8 or 10 films. About two hours of film, which was material that I kept for me, because then worked for the Cadena Ser, making Los 40 Principales, El Gran Musical …

FJ: Do you remember the tracklist of the two shows?
RR: I do not remember exactly, but I know the second day played something with the orchestra in Beijing and played Chinese stuff. That is, the first day they only played Jarre stuff. But for the second nitght they played other things. In the morning he was rehearsing with the orchestra.

FJ: And the key piece of JARRE, “Oxygene IV”, could you tell me if it was included in the tracklist?
RR: I do not remember now, but I think so. I’d have to go to the chronicle I wrote at the time for The Great Musical, and do not know if there even tell some about the repertoire because it was something that always caught my attention. From Oxygene I know that they played the part 1, 2 …

FJ: Could you specify the duration of the two shows?
RR: I think the first was an hour and a half. And for the second it reached two hours.

FJ: There is an audio recording broadcast by Radio Beijing, in addition to the information you are providing should be the second night in Beijing, but also a television broadcast by Television of China which we have not found any evidence of it. Can you confirm whether the concert was broadcasted on television?
RR: No, there was no television there. There was a camera or two, yes. But not to record a concert. Also I remember the emissions of Chinese public television at that time laste two or three hours, and everything was about that they were the best, highest, most beautiful, and I guess that they had no time to broadcast the concert. They would have  recorded the second concert, because it was the Chinese Orchestra there. But there was no mounting cameras there because I went through all the hall and i didn’t see any cameras to make a right broadcast of the concert.

FJ: What was your impression at seeing the show?
RR: That was the first time I saw him live and I felt awesome. I was familiar to groups that were then, from the Rolling Stones to the Beatles. And both the sound, such as assembly and light effects I was getting very striking. I loved it. It really was something that nobody did. Quite unlike anything we knew. That is, you could enjoy the music more or less, that’s going to taste. Now, the work being done up there was top class. He could do a concert today, another tomorrow, another later because you can not. Thus, he made some very selected concerts throughout his life. I have not met anyone who has done something similar, concerts such as care, as bold and bright. Always has mounted a series of concerts left you stunned. Because, look, what China was somewhat modest compared to what Houston or London. I always have asked about the concerts that have attracted my attention, and I always say those JEAN-MICHEL JARRE. Because you see a Pink Floyd concert, but may resemble that of Queen, with a band and with some effects and have their likeness.

FJ: In that mythical tour, JEAN MICHEL released a tool that over time has become indispensable and is closely linked to the image of the musician: The laser harp. How do you remember the use of this element in China?
RR: I do remember well the laser harp China. And it sounded great. To me it is what I have always liked. It gave great pleasure to see in China on the stage doing that stunt JARRE magic and wondered how this guy does this?.

FJ: As the first Western musician to play at Red China had to guess that the concerts have enough impact on the street.
RR: Was there no possibility of knowing. For as no one could speak with the Chinese, and although the first day but not so much the second concert you saw them all excited and cheering, but all have the same face … Well, the day after these concerts, you can not read anything in the newspapers, because they did not published anything in English. Now something is published in that language, but then, is that there was nothing, not even to buy. I bought stamps, a lot, and a blue coat with those typical Chinese sheepskin, sheep or rats, who knows. And I’m still using it yet, because it gives tremendous heat when it gets very cold. Then you have little idea of the impact that this might have. And once you leave China and never know if they liked it or not.

FJ: And after the concert, attended by some sort of party in the backstage or elsewhere?
RR: Nothing. After the concert we got into the bus to the four journalists who were and we went for the hotel. And of course, as we were not the same as the rest of the team, there was no opportunity to ask JEAN MICHEL what he thought of all or how he had noticed the atmosphere in the street.

FJ: If you like, I show you some photos of those concerts and you can say me some tings about them.

RR: The photos are of the second day, because the first day there were no projections “France / China.”

Oh, and on the second day the had a host. The first day there was no host or anything. The second day JEAN MICHEL read his stuff and an interpreter translated to the Chinese what would happen, so the public understood better.

Yes, that were the day we went out to take photos in the Forbidden City, actually in both pictures you’ll see the same building from different points.

I brought these stickers, good little stuck in the bags until they got screwed. I do not know if they will be still in the bag that I always wore metal is covered with stickers of concerts around the world. And that was it, and some were falling when placed others.

RENDEZ-VOUS HOUSTON
FJ: Apart from serving that mythical 1981 tour, you was also present in which the show was possibly the most famous and recognized by JEAN-MICHEL JARRE. I refer to the April 5, 1986 in Houston.
RR: That was also an invitation to Polydor. For me it was the most spectacular show I’ve seen in my life. I do not know if you compare it to London, each in his way were very nice. I was in Houston a couple of days before seeing the gig. The night before the concert we were with JEAN MICHEL JARRE journalists five or six half-hour talking with him and never saw him again, because I was engrossed in his own issues. That really shocked the Americans, stopped diving. All that I saw around me were all blown away, gawking. In an open area in a public park, we were a mile from the stage, and what a sound!… and then projected images over the skyscrapers of the city that was about two miles further back.

FJ: If you saw it would be because it came in time to the concert. I speak from the traffic jams that occurred hours before the festival.
RR: Yes, yes. A warned us beforehand and we moved to the site hours before the concert. We knew there would be much trouble.

FJ: Speaking of the concert in Houston, and many others, forces us to address an issue that I always speak in relation to JARRE: The theme of playback. How does the use of recordings in the concert of Houston?
RR: Well, I did not noticed the playbck. If we talk about the outcome, the result was fucking great. I do not care whether or not playback is, if there was any band I recorded because they did not know it. I’m going to see a show of light and sound and I’ve never worried about that. Even with concerts by Madonna, who say “hey, that you are not singing.” Well do not, is swelling of dancing and jumping an who you want she also singing with the gasp? I believe that when an artist does playback parties is for something, and if you do it because the outcome is better in general if they did playback. Another thing is that absolutely everything was playback, it does not the case. It is fully justified.

Destination Docklands
FJ: Two years later, in 1988, JARRE lands in London, first with the intention of making one large concert at the Docklands. Later, as a result of the many bureaucratic problems and the thing would be safety in two smaller concerts. As if that were not enough problems with the local commission should allow the conclusion of the push to change the dates of September to October. I do not know if this move meant that all those concerts were a bit sombred by that.
RR: Well, we do not become aware of anything like that. I was at the first and I got very. It was of those rains that can not stand. I wore my waterproof shoes but I got soaked, but fine. In addition, when you see that everyone gets wet because you do not care. I remember the scene that was like a huge platform, very ornate, floating in the water. We were just opposite.

FJ: Could you talk to JARRE at that time?
RR: No, in London did not talk to him. Nor with Marvin (editor’s note: Hank Marvin, a member of THE SHADOWS). We had a press event at a waterfront restaurant for dinner and talk. But there was also JARRE.

SPAIN 1983
FJ: And that’s strange, because you have kept in touch with JEAN MICHEL

RR: Yes, I will have met him 10 or 12 times, not only when he came to promotion. I speak French very well, because I am a French teacher, and I rolled with him a lot. And I wondered to what I thought to ride in Spain there. A couple of years later than China of the first times he came promotion to Spain, we were trying to do some concerts here. He wanted to do something in Madrid, Seville, … And we were working to see above all the possibilities of Madrid, talking to people of the City, which is where I more I tried, locating possible sites …

FJ: What was the location of the concert that you were driving?
RR: I wanted to do in La Castellana, a place where time has come after the Pope, there before the Bernabeu with a very good area. But given many problems, people who commanded then mayor of Madrid did not like all those issues. But we were making negotiations a year, and JEAN MICHEL came three or four times, but no way. In the end he said he was going to try in Seville and Santiago de Compostela, he liked the cathedral and the Plaza del Obradoiro. And we could not move anything more than Madrid.

EUROPE IN CONCERT 1993
FJ: So I think you will remember well is the Spanish tour 1993, Europe In Concert. Did you intended to go to the concert of Madrid that it was cancelle by the rain?
RR: Of course I was eager to see him in Madrid, because we had spoken 20 times to do something in Madrid, what would be a concert in Madrid. I’m from Madrid and I presume that this, and all the staff that I gave to Madrid, and could not be final. And yes, I was one of those who remained without seeing it. And I am very sorry because he had invited many friends and family to show off the artist who was my friend (laughs).

JARRE TODAY
FJ: With the experiences and encounters that you had related to JARRE and the perspective gained of years of experience will be easy to get a comparison with the current JARRE. How does this matter?
RR: Well I must say that I do not know the JARRE of today, because I passed without hearing things of JEAN MICHEL many years. And from 1992-1997 I do not remember more than one JARRE album in those four or five years.

FJ: Well, Cadena 100 radio station gave much airplay to JARRE …
RR: Yeah, because it was a buddy and we treated him well (laughs). But as I say I went to Digital Broadcast in 1997, with the Campus Party, and I lost track of him completely. Digital Broadcast happens that not all companies because it was sent discs Internet, which was the bad bug … Companies have been completely wrong and are paying for, and thus are missing almost all because they could not understand what I was in internet. So since 1997 I started with the internet and they didn’t sent JARRE discs, and in your work you take care of what you get.

FJ: Knowing JARRE as you know, you could do a JARRE profile and highlight some specific quality.
RR: I’ve always seen him as a perfectionist. Very busy testing things a thousand times, repeating things, tiny things that only he see or hear. And he repeated one thing and another and another. I like that artists . For me JARRE is the maximum that I have known also because he makes something completely different, something that requires hard work and a lot of preparation.

FJ: I refuse to close this interview without asking for the key person in the career of JARRE, and who sadly passed away in recent months: The French producer Francis Dreyfus.
RR: Yeah, man. Came with him forever. It was his counselor, friend. Must have been about 80 years at least to die. I remember that I was a kid and I was an older guy, about 40 years at that time. He was musical editor, and I knew from the music publishing Dreyfus. At the MIDEM was where I met him. I went to MIDEM every year, from first to the 25th edition. There always learned new things, until things started to decline. Francis was a smart guy, very clever, very proper and polite, and very nice. I talked to him enough. I greatly admired. That is the one who knew all the secrets of JARRE bedroom (laughs).

FJ: Tell me, when you are going to see JARRE again?

RR: I do not know, but it would be great. Maybe when I go to a concert in France or Spain … I would go to see him and it would be nice.

FJ: But he was playing last July in Santiago de Compostela …
RR: Yeah, but I was on holiday in Chipiona, and I couldn’ go there.

JEANMICHELJARRE.ES  would like to thank to RAFAEL REVERT his time and attention for conducting this interview with us.

Till 2004 Claude Samard is a key person on every Jean Michel Jarre project. Claude kindly gave this interesting interview to Fairlight Jarre.

- For those who don’t know who are you, who is Claude Samard??

I m a lucky guy who s making a living playing music

- How were your first steps in music??

Rock guitar (like JM

- How JMJ contacted with you??

Through Alain Bilowus who produced his big shows from 2004

- How were the first meeting with JMJ himself?

In a restaurant we re both from Lyon , capital of gastronomy so it was a good start

- Did you know JMJ’s music before the begin of your collaboration??

Of course, i even attended the show at La Defense and at the Eiffel Tower as a spectator

- Have you got any JMJ favourite song or album??

Zoolook was how i stated my sampling career

- You are musical director in most JMJ concerts, but what is the exact role of a musical director??

For each project JM has a clear vision of what he wants in terms of musical arrangements, collaborations with guests, etc, but he needs somebody to help all his wishes come a reality. It s very time consuming and you must consider the fact that it s the same for video, lasers, fireworks when there are some, lights,  so he needs a musical director to help him along the way for the music part of the project . At each step i show him my work to make sure i m on the good direction, like casting local guests in BJ, Gdansk, Merzouga ….. So i ve to listen to him well , having a lot of pre prod meetings, good briefings so that i get the clearest idea of what he wants.

- The arranges of existing Jarre tracks for the Gdansk concert are really amazing, like the Industrial Overture one… Did you arranged this track for the concert or was Jean Michel Jarre himself who arranged the track??

I did some programming, and then he decides what to keep, and adds his own. It s a collaboration, but he can t do everything from scratch in music , video , lasers, lights. No time. That s why for each field he has a special collaborator who builds with him step by step after his primal recommendations. Then it s a back and forth exchange. JM has his own conception of music so whoever he works with his music has the Jarre sound. All his MD s had different musical backgrounds and musical personalities, but we re all here to follow the direction he indicates , then we keep the project moving forward to save his time and energy while he works on his side.

- And the same question, but about the Metamorphoses tracks in the Water for Life concert: The arranged versions belongs to you??

He gives the directions , some starting ideas , some demos,  then i push this forward, shows the results before going too far, then at some point we check all the ideas we got and he makes the final decision , like a film director he s doing the final edit because then he s got enough interesting material to decide what to keep. Plus it s good to collaborate , especially when you have a long career, it helps for motivation , new influences…

- About the track Tian’anmen, Jarre said in the audiocomentary of the DVD that you and JMJ worked together in the creation of the track in your hotel room. Please, tell us a bit about this track.

I think we may have had some basic ideas before getting to Beijing but most of the work was done at the hotel with my Mac laptop, ProTools LE, a Digi 002 interface , I even bought the cymbals we used the morning of the concert in a local music store i have these cymbals at my studio now !

- Did you have any special bad memories or good memories in your concerts with Jarre??

No bad memories. A lot of good ones , the most important being the Beijing concert, the discovery of China and the discovery of what is a Jarre s concert, viewed from the inside.

- About Téo & Téa, as you know this was a very controversial album that most of the fans didn´t like at all. What do you think about this album?? Were you aware of the possible shocks that this album would create in the fan comunity were you were making the album??

Yes, it was an experience, JM explained a lot about that. I think it was a necessary step, it s no hasard that the next one was come back to analog and to his trademark Oxygene.

- Towards the end of 2006, JMJ was talking about a new album called “Saint Exupery” to be realeased in the first part of 2007, but then came out Téo & Téa… Was Téo & Téa “Saint Exupery” or is this last title an abandoned project??

I think so

- As you know, JMJ used the Roland MC808 extensively in the Téo & Téa album, and it was very shocking for most fans that JMJ, a real creator of sounds, used drum patterns of that drum machine almost without any modification… What do you think about this?? What really happened??

JM himself contributed a lot to develop products with Roland , plus on Teo & Tea he worked with Tim , a dutch musician/DJ who developped also sounds for Roland, so it s not so strange some patterns were used on a cd. I even met people from Roland Japan at JM s studio which proves they were working together at the time.

- About your concerts in Spain with the Oxygene In Concert Tour, have you got special memories of this concerts??

Yes , great success, it was a moment when JM started to change his attitude on stage, he did more entertaining , running, moving etc…Maybe its thanx to the spanish audience, but that  s where he changed his attitude during that tour. I even remember having said to him one night ” that s called a triumph” !

- Are you working in the new JMJ album?? If so, what is the direction of this work, a return to origins or another Téo & Téa?

Surely not a new Teo & Tea Yes JM worked a lot on this new project , Francis, Dom and me also participated, a lot of good stuff !

- Are you going to visit more continents next yea with the actual JMJ tour?? USA, South America?? And Spain??

Hope so !!! i know it s a wish of JM…but the world is changing these days, (even volcanos) but i should say that yes we should tour in other continents in 2011

- What kind of music inspires you to make your own themes?

any music with soul, emotion , whatever instruments it s played with , a voice , an old moog or a guitar

- Apart of JMJ, have you collaborated with other artists??

Of course, if not JM wouldn t have trusted me It ranges from all the major french artists to Rita Marley (the “queen of reggae), Supertramp ‘s Roger Hodgson , Midnight Oil, Zucchero, lots of world music artist for Mongolia, Africa…. I also composed for Video Games (Rayman, Far Cry, Pod2) and for Movies.

- And what kind of music are you making actually??

I released a new CD called “Horizons” and i finished a movie soundtrack “Christopher Roth” , directed by Max Sender. I work on a new personal project  which will blend electro and acoustic instruments.

- Please, talk us about your new CD Horizons. Are you going to promote this album in Spain??

I m working on a new distribution now. It s available on iTunes, Amazon but i m checking out how i could have the Cd distributed in stores as well in Spain and in all the major countries concerned by the physical sales of cd’s. “Horizons” is far from what i do with JM even if it s mostly instrumental too, but it s also a side of what i like. Plus it was a way to collaborate with great musicians and singers from different countries and styles from Tibet to Africa . My next project will be called “Electro Lift” so it speaks for itself and i ll use a lot of instruments i play with JM.

- Thanks again and best regards from Spain!!

Thanks to you , hoping to see you soon in Spain. I have to practice my spanish a bit !!!!!

www.claudesamard.com

http://www.myspace.com/claudesamard

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