Jacques Thollot - Quand le son devient aigu, jeter la girafe à la mer. '1971; 2018

Tracks list

Souffle Continu Records present the first ever vinyl reissue of Jacques Thollots
Quand Le Son Devient Aigu, Jeter La Girafe À La Mer, originally released in
1971. While he was still just a young adolescent who had perfected his drum
technique under the benevolent wing of Kenny Clarke, the Club Saint-Germain
liked to present Jacques Thollot as a prodigy capable of holding his own with
the famous jazz musicians who came through Paris. It was there that Eric Dolphy
immediately noticed him, and from René Thomas to Walt Dickerson, everyone
wanted to work with him. However, it was during the 1960s, first with Jef Gilson
then François Tusques, Barney Wilen, Joachim Kühn, and Steve Lacy, that
the decisive encounters occurred. Without forgetting that he joined, in 1968,
one of Don Cherrys groups, went on tour with them and came back transformed.
That being said, to present Jacques Thollot as an in-demand virtuoso who could
adapt to any circumstances would be to ignore both his demanding compositions
and his complete freedom from stylistic boundaries. Although he had already
featured on some cult albums -- Our Meanings And Our Feelings by Michel Portal
(1969), Monkey-Pockie-Boo by Sonny Sharrock (1970) -- the first album under his
own name, recorded in 1971 for producer Gérard Terronès, who gave him free
rein, would turn out to be an unexpected, unclassifiable and astounding work.
Entitled Quand Le Son Devient Aigu, Jeter La Girafe À La Mer, (when the
sound gets high-pitched, throw the giraffe into the sea) it is an extraordinary
sonic collage, created from discrete re-recordings and using just a handful of
instruments including drums and piano. The result is a miracle, though the
economy of means the production technique succeeds in putting the spotlight on
the oddly elaborate compositions under an enigmatic but well-chosen title,
borrowed from poet Henri Michaux. It puts into words the mysteries of a fragile
melancholic universe which can be compared to another album by an iconoclastic
drummer: The End Of An Ear by Robert Wyatt (1970). The difference being the
highly personal elements which shine through the French musicians album, clearly
drawn from listening intently to classics from Debussy, Ravel, and Barraqué
(whom he knew), a seam which he would continue to mine on his equally excellent
following albums Watch Devil Go (1975) and Cinq Hops (1978). Thollot recorded
five albums under his own name during his lifetime, but those albums are
marvelous. Licensed from Futura/Marge. 16-page booklet with unpublished photos
an essay by Jean Rochard.

Tracklist:
01. Jacques Thollot - Cécile (3:55)
02. Jacques Thollot - Position stagnante de réaction stationnaire (1:26)
03. Jacques Thollot - Enlevez les boulons, le croiseur se désagrège
(2:22)
04. Jacques Thollot - Mahogany Extraits (3:08)
05. Jacques Thollot - Quils se fassent un village, ou bien cest nous qui sen
allons (2:17)
06. Jacques Thollot - Aussi long que large (5:07)
07. Jacques Thollot - Quiet Days in Prison (2:43)
08. Jacques Thollot - De D.C. par J.T. (1:34)
09. Jacques Thollot - Virginie ou le manque de tact (3:42)
10. Jacques Thollot - N.G.A. (1:20)
11. Jacques Thollot - Aussi large que long (9:48)
12. Jacques Thollot - Quand le son devient aigu, jeter la girafe à la mer
(4:51)
13. Jacques Thollot - Marche (1:19)
14. Jacques Thollot - A suivre (0:32)

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