Hal Singer & Jef Gilson - 1974 - Soul of Africa

Hal Singer & Jef Gilson

1974 

Soul of Africa

01. Chant Inca 8:40

02. Mother Africa 6:54

03. The High Life 3:58

04. Libertarian 5:27

05. Garvey's Strut 6:05

Bass – Jacky Samson

Drums – Frank Raholison

Percussion – Del Rabenja, Gerard Rakotoarivony

Piano – Jef Gilson

Tenor Saxophone – Hal Singer

Vibraphone – Bernard Lubat

Mega rare great jazz recording of the legendary US saxophonist Hal Singer and French pianist Jef Gilson from 1974, originaly released on the French Le Chant Du Monde Label. The birth act of the Afro-/Jazz-Parisian scene that fascinated so many musicians and music fans throughout the 70s and 80s.Fantasic modal soul jazz masterpiece, a pure beauty from start to end..

An incredible sampling of jazz sub-genres. Soul of Africa transitions between and synthesizes afro-jazz with soul jazz with cool jazz and tucks it in under a spiritual jazz blanket. Every song on here is great, and each has its own feel. From the more traditional jazz club riffs on "The High Life" to the spiritual and incantatory "Chant inca", every corner turned while listening to Soul of Africa yields a pleasant and expertly executed surprise.

Let's end the week with a selection from one of my favorite African jazz records "Soul of Africa" which was a collaborative effort between saxophonist Hal Singer and pianist Jef Gilson. The album, which was originally released back in 1974 and later re-issued by Kindred Spirits, features a number of amazing Afro-centric jazz tracks including "Mother Africa", "Liberation", "Garvey's Strut", and my personal favorite "Chant Inca". With the original almost impossible to find, this is one re-issue definitely worth picking up. For those that enjoy this album I highly recommend checking out some of Gilson's other work including Malagasy, Malagasy At Newport-Paris, Le Massacre Du Printemps, Œil Vision, as well as the recent "Best of" release Jazzman Records put out this year. Enjoy!

Sylvain Marc-Del Rabenja - 1973 - Madagascar Now (Maintenant 'Zao)

Sylvain Marc-Del Rabenja 

1973.

Madagascar Now / Maintenant 'Zao

01. Valiha Ny Dada 7:32

02. Katrao 5:33

03. Hommage À Rakotozafy 4:53

04. Amore Ny Canal 3:47

05. Del-Light 3:50

06. Ô Ambalavoa "City" 8:05

07. Rotaka 9:02

Drum [Valiha] – Del Rabenja (tracks: A1, A3)

Drums – Frank Raholison (tracks: A1, A3 to B1), Sylvain Marc (tracks: A2, A4, B1)

Electric Bass [Fender] – Ange "Zizi" Japhet (tracks: A2, A4, B1), Sylvain Marc (tracks: B2, B3)

Electric Bass [Fender], Percussion – Gerard Rakotoarivony (tracks: A1, A3)

Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Del Rabenja (tracks: B3)

Percussion – Ange "Zizi" Japhet (tracks: A1, A3), Sylvain Marc (tracks: A1, A3)

Tenor Saxophone – Del Rabenja (tracks: B1, B3)

Ange "Zizi" Japhet (tracks: A2, A4), Sylvain Marc (tracks: A2, A4)

While he was working on the repertoire for the new version of his group Malagasy, with young Malagasy musicians he had met in Paris in 1972 (and who can be heard on the album "Malagasy At Newport-Paris"), Jef Gilson realised that two of his new discoveries, in addition to being established polyinstrumentalists (who both had sharpened their skills in the legendary seja-jazz band from La Réunion, Le Club Rythmique), were also skilled composers. They were capable of reinventing jazz and traditional Malagasy music, adding influences from the new generation inspired by pop, rock and funk into the mix. He offered them the chance to share the two sides of an album recorded on his own label, Palm, alongside their compatriots, Ange "Zizi" Japhet, Gérard Rakotoarivony and Frank Raholison. This is how Del Rabenja and Sylvin Marc came to record this "Madagascar Now / Maintenant 'Zao". 

The first side really showcases the valiha (a small Malagasy harp) of Del Rabenja who uses the occasion to pay homage to the sadly missed Rakotozafy, often called the Django Reinhardt of the instrument. His three compositions are full of spirituality and invite an almost trance-like state. But Rabenja is equally a very good tenor saxophonist and organist on the other tracks. The other side displays the full range of talents of the multi-instrumentalist and composer Sylvin Marc, who moves from bass to drums, from vocals to percussion and offers four compositions ranging from free jazz to cosmic groove.

At the same period the five men could also be found amongst the cast list of the mytical albums, "Funny Funky Rib Crib" by Byard Lancaster and "Soul Of Africa" by Hal Singer & Jef Gilson. Later, Sylvin Marc would play bass for Nina Simone on her album "Fodder On My Wings" in 1982, then join the team of violinist Didier Lockwood, while Del Rabenja would be part of Manu Dibango’s and Eddy Louiss’ orchestras for a long time and would even be at the front of the top 50 at the end of the 80s with David Koven. He would also be the special guest of the Palm Unit trio (Fred Escoffier, Lionel Martin, Philippe "Pipon" Garcia) on their first album, an homage to the œuvre of Jef Gilson, in 2018

Malagasy-Gilson - 1973 - At Newport-Paris

Malagasy-Gilson

1973

At Newport-Paris

01. Newport Bounce 5:46

02. Salegy Jef 6:11

03. Solo Frank 6:03

04. Buddah's Vision 6:00

05. Veloma Lava 4:48

06. Valiha Del 4:51

07. Requiem Pour Django 7:28

08. Dizzy 48 5:20

09. "1973" 1:58

Drums – Frank Raholison (tracks: 6 to 9), Sylvain Marc (tracks: A1 to A4, B1)

Electric Bass [Fender] – Gérard Rakotoarivony (tracks: A1, A4, B1 to B4)

Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Composed By, Engineer [Recording] – Jef Gilson

Percussion – Ange "Zizi" Japhet

Percussion, Guitar, Electric Bass [Fender], Vocals – Sylvain Marc

Tenor Saxophone – Del Rabenja

Recorded on 14 March 1973 at Newport.

In May 1972, the wave of anger and the thirst for freedom that had swept the world in 1968 arrived in Madagascar. The Malagasy youth took the opportunity to exile in search of a brighter future. Several of them, all jazz musicians and often polyintrumentalists, came to Paris with their afro hair and bellbottoms. Their names were Sylvin Marc, his cousin Ange "Zizi" Japhet, Del Rabenja, Gérard Rakotoarivony and Frank Raholison.

By chance, they crossed paths with pianist and bandleader Jef Gilson, who they had already met as kids during a series of concert and workshops in Tananarive four years earlier. Gilson was far from an unknown on the French jazz scene. He had played with Boris Vian and André Hodeir at the end of the forties, he was one of the first French composers to move away from the New-Orleans style to try his hand at bebop, had launched numerous young stars (Ponty, Texier, Portal...), was a polemical critic for Jazz Hot, had opened for Coltrane at Antibes/Juan Les Pins, and was part of the Double Six... But it was tough to make a living playing personal compositions and Jef, who didn’t have enough money to return to the island and continue mining the seam of Malagasy jazz, saw an opportunity to relaunch ‘Malagasy’.

He had his recording studio in the Les Halles area, at the Foyer Montorgueil, where he was teaching jazz to a choir. He set to work with the new Malagasy group, working on a repertoire and reviving some of his compositions from the 50s/60s ("Requiem Pour Django", "Dizzy 48", "Anamorphose" here renamed "Salegy Jef" as a nod to an ancestral rhythm reworked in a contemporary style...), and also included more recent tunes ("Newport Bounce" which opens this current album is a reworking of a track called "Interlude", recorded in 69 with the drummer from Miles Davis’ first quintet, Philly Joe Jones).

The group Malagasy 73 gigged a lot. One of their concerts was recorded on the 14 March in a club, ‘Le Newport’, in rue Grégoire de Tours, Saint Germain des Prés, not far from the ‘Kiosque d'Orphée’ where Gilson worked at the beginning of the 60s when he brought bebop and avant-garde jazz to the attention of a generation of musicians with his records imported from USA.

This meeting between two generations and two cultures created a new mix between jazz, traditional music and electric funk. Jef Gilson had reinvented himself yet again, and it wouldn’t be the last time.

Malagasy-Gilson - 1972 - Malagasy

Malagasy-Gilson

1972

Malagasy

01. A Tana 5:20

02. Avaradoha 6:25

03. Chant Inca 4:12

04. Sodina 6:35

05. The Creator Has A Master-Plan 12:12

06. Malagasy 7:10

Alto Saxophone – Alain Razafinohatra

Baritone Saxophone – Roland De Comarmond

Bass Clarinet, Guitar – Arnaud Razafy

Bass, Composed By – Jean-Charles Capon

Drums – Alain Rahoerson

Piano, Xylophone [Malagasian] – Jef Gilson

Soprano Saxophone – Georges Rahoerson

Tenor Saxophone – Joel Rakotomamonjy, Serge Rahoerson

Paris, May 13th 1968. There was a general strike. One last plane left the runway, strewn with flaming oil drums. On board were three jazz musicians wondering whether they would be able to return home one day. But for the time being they really want to make it to Madagascar where concerts and workshops with young local musicians were waiting for them. Pianist and bandleader Jef Gilson was accompanied by his bassist Gilbert "Bibi" Rovère (Martial Solal Trio) and the young drummer Lionel Magal (Crium Delirium). Gilson, who already had a reputation for finding new talent (it was thanks to him that, amongst others Jean-Louis Chautemps, Henri Texier, Jean-Luc Ponty or Michel Portal first became known) was literally blown away by the standard of the young Malagasy musicians, all capable of imitating their American idols by ear. Their names were known only to jazz fans on the island; Serge, Allain and Georges Rahoerson, Arnaud Razafy, Roland de Comarmond, Joel Rakotomamonjy, Alain Razafinohatra, Samuel Ramiara... Gilson then had a vision: he wanted to encourage them to play jazz which was truly Malagasy and which would find its’ soul in the island’s culture and traditional instruments (Sodina flute, valiha, various percussion instruments...).

He would go back to the big island three times, in March (with cellist Jean-Charles Capon), in October 1969 (alone), then in February 1970 (as a trio with guitarist Raymond Boni and drummer Bertrand Gauthier). The two trips in 1969 would lead to the sessions, recorded on a simple ReVox with two Neuman microphones, which would make up the essential part of this mythical album entitled "Malagasy", and first issued in 1972 on the Lumen label, and then reissued, as early as 1973, on Palm, Jef Gilson’s own label.

Apart from the last track, recorded in Paris in 1971 with Malagasy instruments brought back from trips by the trio which would play on the avant-garde "Le Massacre du Printemps" (Futura), all the other compositions on the album are by Jef Gilson, Jean-Charles Capon and the young saxophonist Serge Rahoerson. There is also a cover of a song issued just a few months earlier and that the Malagasy musicians had only heard through bits and pieces played by Gilson on piano: the song is "The Creator Has A Masterplan" by Pharoah Sanders, and it is one of the most wild and mystical versions you will ever hear.

In May 1972, Madagascar itself would be the theatre of youth revolt. And the composition "Avaradoha" by Serge Rahoerson, the second track of the first side of this album, would be the anthem of the revolution on the streets.

Christian Vander & Frank Raholison - 1973 - Fiesta In Drums

Christian Vander & Frank Raholison

1973

Fiesta In Drums

01. Fiesta in Drums 10:56

02. Suite exotique en 4 parties 7:45

03. Suite malgache 19:35

Christian Vander (drums)

Frank Raholison (drums)

Vander first saw his name on a non- Magma album in 1973, when Palm released the pure jazz Christian Vander And Et Les 3 Jef, featuring the drummer, tenor saxophonist Jeff Saeffer, string bassist Jef Catoire and pianist Jef Gilson. The tapes from 1969 and 1973, included a Vander drum solo. Gilson also released Fiesta In Drums on Palm, creating a drum duet between Vander and Frank Raholison by mixing two separate performances. The LPs were unauthorised.

Drums Galore!