With the launch of this pimer volume, “ACT1″ we have been in contact with the protagonist and has commented:

“When I prepare a new album, normally delivery of the memories that come to mind from the meetings I have with musicians, friends, fans, etc..

In recent years on the road touring with JMJ, I have accumulated memories of places, people, moments away from time and many other emotions that make my life as a splendid caleidoscopo. Then what I try to do is turn these memories into music.

Furthermore, on the other side are all those artists who come to spend a few hours in my studio, just for the pleasure of sharing our musical ideas.

That is why we decided to carry out a series of albums with different styles and where you can find different influences.

To start this first act I’ve chosen a fun and rambunctious group named AT KEYS.

Also, my daughter AMBRE at that time was working as a dancer in Disneyland with a group called Les tabards of Feu.

So with all this, and with my inseparable Marie-Laure we took a trip to the forest with all this gang to produce 3 videoclips, simple but fun with the sole ambition of fun. Hence arose two of the tracks of this : ACT 1: JOANNA (originally written for a Polish friend) and WHAT’S UP.

We spent hours very funny, very good times bring out in me a smile every time I see these clips. So this ACT1 begins with a note of good humor.

On the track FEET you can hear a howl through a phone and speaking in broken English saying something like “I am your servant.” The rest of this track, very funky indeed develops with these voices in English.

Finally, MEPHISTO, you can hear an acoustic guitar that gives a clear Spanish accent. This theme I composed especially for JUAN GOMIS, the webmaster of my website in Spain as well as the distributor of my albums in Spanish territory. Juan is more than a friend, is a formidable friend with a smile that can light the darkest night.

ACT1, now available on iTunes to 0.99 € each track:

1 – Joanna (3:22)

2 – Fet (3:57)

3 – Mephisto (3:51)

4 – What’s up (3:22)

http://itunes.apple.com/fr/album/francis-rimbert-friends-vol./id523182553

Probably the more veterans in this website remembers Paco. He was the “daddy” of this great family popularly known as Fairlight Jarre, and one of the very first ones supporting this website/magazine in the middle 90′s. Others probably meet him in the Jarre Fan Meeting in Alicante, a couple of years ago.

Paco was’nt only a great friend, he was also an extrardinary person an a passionate about music.

See you soon, Paco.

Foto: Aleix Riera

Report made by Paco Rico for Fairlight Jarre Magazine (issue 3) in the middle 90′s:

Page 1 (clic to zoom)	Page 2 (clic to zoom)

Thanks to Víctor Maqueda for the Scans

- Tell us about you… Who is Tim Hüfken?

I am a wildly energetic guy who who likes martial arts (like boxing, tai chi and kung fu), crazy dancing, making jokes, spirituality and philosophy and various styles of music. Did I mention pretty ladies? I have a not so standard view on life and I can be quite stubborn. In a good way of course

Yes of course. His name was in my synthesizer presets! I mean hello?

And about the demos. I was only given the main theme melody as an mp-3. Played on a synth live by Jean-Michel. He told me to create a dance track from it. I guess he wanted to know what I was capable of. And he gave me about 3 songs as a reference or guidline. One of it was Pakito. I think living on video. I was quite surprised because I didn’t really like that song too much. Too flat and commercial. So I decided to forget about the reference tracks and create something that would be more of my view on Jean-Michel Jarre. Stubborn remember?

I worked on Teo and Tea at home in Belgium first for maybe a month or so. Lots of conversations on the phone back then. After that I went to Paris to finish Teo and Tea and work on some other tracks like Vintage and some more. I have great memories of the two weeks approximately that I spent there. Japanese Miso soups, having steak at the hotel where I stayed. Long walks in the middle of the night with Jean-Michel. Talking about life. Showing him Borat movies and having fun. I was quite close with him in that time. It was quite an intense schedule however. We used to work sometimes till 04:30 am in the studio. Then I rode the bike he had given me back to the hotel. He knew I am Dutch so he gave me a bike I would sleep till noon. Have breakfast. Studio by 1 pm. Then work some. Have diner at nine pm. Then back to the studio till 3 to 4 pm. This went on for almost two weeks. But it was a great experience of course.

Yeah probably. I like the one with the synth sounds Can’t think of anything particular right now though. I like how many tracks have this big epic feeling to it.

Well. It never officially stopped. I was toldby Jean-Michel that we would be doing stuff in the future and that he strongly believed in my skills as an artist or musician and that he was going to mentor me. However in the years after that he has been quite busy touring with his old work and I haven’t heard from him too much so we’ll see what happens. And maybe it’s time to be my own Jean-Michel Jarre  I mean – after all – electronic music needs pioneers and not just recycling old tracks, with all due respect. But of course he knows how to find me and I will probably say yes to any new offers. There isn’t any conflict just to make that clear.

It was amazing and it really showed me a lot of the music industry. It was really great to work with Jean-Michel and Patrick and Claude etc. I learned a lot and well: It’s on my resumé! I wasn’t always very mature or professional at the time maybe and some years younger. And I can tell you. He’s actually a nice and friendly person. He has treated me both personally and business-wise very well. Just to emphasize that.

Over all these years Jean Michel Jarre has stated its desire to offer a concert in Australia. Last year these rumors about a possible Australian concert took renewed force when Jarre made ​​a visit to Perth. The musician made ​​several statements in which he remarked his desire to give a concert in Perth that will even serve to showcase his new album.

As usual, rumors of the concert in Perth were forgotten until today, March 1st: According oneperth.com, Jean Michel Jarre could make a concert at the Langley Park in Perth on 17 November 2012.

(UPDATE): The concert was unanimously approved by the city of Perth, so it would take place as planned.

Many of the musicians of our Forum are featured in the February number of Future Music magazine, in its spanish edition.  The magazine contains a CD with 16 compositions of our musicians, with additional infos as gear used on every track. The musicians featured in the CD are:

- A.J ESPINAL

- ALIDAN

- COSMIC SOUND

- CYBORGDRIVE

- DIE STADT

- DIVIDED BY

- DREAMING

- ECLIPSIS

- G.R.O.K.

- JOSEDIGIT

- JUANMA71

- MR. ROBOTO

- NELMAN MUSIC SYSTEM

- RAÚL GONZALO

- SEQUENTIAL POINT

- XETHIS

From Fairlight Jarre we would like to thank to all these musicians for their hard work and great creativity, and a big thanks to Juanma71 (impulsor of the project) and the Future Music magazine team.

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.

Here we can find an unique video of Samuel Hobo singing the early Jarre tune “Zig Zag Dance”,  surrounded by  a bunch of girls dancing along the track.

And here, and thanks to Radio Equinoxe, we can find some very early and rare Jarre tracks like “Setyricon” (an early version of “Equinoxe 5″) and a fragment of the music composed by Jarre for the ballet “Dorian”.

The french label Rhino, from Warner Music, has released a compilation of film music in a 4 CD box titled “Soundtrack Maniac”. Here, among other artists as Mike Oldfield, John Barry, Ennio Morricone, etc, we can find Jean Michel Jarre with his track “Les Granges Brulees (Generique”). Here is the complete tracklist.

This box is only on sale in France and you can purchase it from amazon.fr.

Disques Dreyfus through digital download web Qobuz, released last October 21 new editions of Studio Masters (sound files taken directly from the mixing console, high quality, sampled at 24 bit/96 kHz. ) of the albums “Oxygene”, “Equinoxe” and “Magnetic Fields”.

This release (which was announced months ago in Fairlight Jarre) follows the path opened by the Studio Master edition of the album “Rarities”. The price of these digital downloads ranging from 11 to 14 euros.
More info here on the website of Qobuz.

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