Jean Michel Jarre, Sessions 2000

23 November 2002

The latest offering by the master of the synthesiser, Jean Michel Jarre, aims to take you on a journey through the final year of the 20th century.

The latest offering by the master of the synthesiser, Jean Michel Jarre, aims to take you on a journey through the final year of the 20th century. Recorded for Parisian label Disques Dreyfus, it's far removed from the  shiny synth classics Oxygene and Equinox that soundtracked a thousand 80s nature documentaries. The album is laced with acoustic instruments (a mix of live playing and samples) placed over a backdrop of seamless ambient electronics and soft trip hop grooves, with chilled jazzy undertones throughout.

Sessions 2000 contains 6 tracks recorded by Jarre and long term collaborator Francis Rimbert, each one named after a specific day of the year. The album opens with ''January 24th'' with a soundscape of bubbling, piano scaling and fake double bass plucking that places you in the midst of a passing rainstorm.

By ''March 23rd'', I was surprisingly mesmerised and really loving the dispersed hail of acoustic trumpeting sprayed over a lazily swaying groove, although I felt this track slightly outstayed its welcome; after 8 minutes of losing myself in the long spring grass I emerged feeling slightly hazy and unbalanced.

''May 1st'' has to be by far Jarre's finest day of the year (unfortunately the shortest track on the album) with a soft pulsing backdrop underpinning a stunning piano acoustic throughout, while the album tails off with the much more subdued end of year offering that is ''December 17th''.

The whole album left me feeling unbelievably serene, standing on the station platform in rush hour listening through headphones I felt so unusually calm and composed.  It is the perfect remedy for dismissing the chaos around you, although if you need the ability to concentrate throughout your day then I suggest you file this album under the 'purely for lounge listening' category.

Reviewer: Lorna Palmer

        

Entrevista a DANIÉLE FEUILLERAT, Directora de Publicación de Disques Dreyfus (2013)

DANIÉLE FEUILLERAT, durante más de 30 años directora de edición del grupo 
FRANCIS DREYFUS MUSIC (FDM), además de ayudante de producción de espectáculos como “Rendez-Vous Houston” o la intrigante gira de conciertos en China de 1981. 
Conoció los comienzos de JARRE como letrista, presenció su marcha de la maison tras publicarse “Metamorphoses” y también el regreso con “Essentials & Rarities”. 

       

ENGLISH VERSION!

       

Many thanks to "Fairlight Jarre" for sharing this interview and for agreeing to the publication of this PDF. 

Interview of Danièle Feuillerat (ex-Disques Dreyfus), 2013

In January 2013 DISQUES DREYFUS, veteran and legendary French label founded on the effort and artistic flair of its promoter FRANCIS DREYFUS (1940-2010), ceased to exist as an independent entity and was going to be part of the giant BMG. Inevitably the future of plump nude woman illustrating the characteristic company logo appears indistinct and its extensive catalog of recordings artists, among them names like CHRISTOPHE, FRANÇOIS DE ROUBAIX, BLUE VAMP, BAHAMAS or JEAN MICHEL JARRE , abandoned the possibility of a hypothetical republication or forgotten, in the worst case.

With the death of Francis Dreyfus, producer in mid-2010 because of cancer, few people can relate with great detail and based on comprehensive information that was “the adventure Motors”, the seed of FRANCIS DREYFUS MUSIC and its label DREYFUS JAZZ, the rise and demise of the company that allowed JEAN MICHEL JARRE to be a star. One of those few people is Danièle Feuillerat, for more than 30 years publishing director of FRANCIS DREYFUS MUSIC (FDM), plus production assistant in shows like ” Rendez -Vous Houston” or the intriguing concert tour in China 1981. She met a young JARRE as a lyricist, he witnessed his departure from the maison after publication ” Metamorphoses ” and return to ” Essentials & Rarities”.

Daniele has agreed to collaborate closely with FAIRLIGHT JARRE with a project that began more than a year ago, lending itself to review carefully the history of JEAN MICHEL JARRE and DISQUES DREYFUS, that is, in a sense, our own story.

Part I  Interview with Daniel Feuillerat
Part II  PLACE DE LA CONCORDE
Part III  RELATIONSHIP BREAKDOWN

For all JARRE’s fans, and for lovers of music in general, the announce of the purchase of DISQUES DREYFUS by BMG Group was a hard impact. DREYFUS label means the success of a romantic project that grew to become a global reference thanks to the richness of its catalog and its great work in the world of jazz. When did you know the intention of selling DISQUES DREYFUS? What was the reason for the sale? 

When Francis died his wife, Hélène, was named new President and she decided to keep the company running for a little while. Early 2011, the shareholders decided to sell the company in order to pay the inheritance taxes (very high in France). We almost made a deal with Universal by the end of 2011 but they had to withdraw their offer because of the Virgin-Capitol-Emi purchase. The second best offer was that of BMG Rights. The sale was finally concluded on May 25, 2012.

Did FRANCIS DREYFUS ever intend to sell the record label?

Maybe 4 or 5 years before he died, Francis had mentioned several times that in the future he might decide to sell the label and keep the publishing. But in fact it was always postponed to later days.

Thanks very much again to Daniéle for her involvement in this interview that lasted three months of work. She is answering more questions on the coments below the spanish version of the interview. Click here to make some questions to her.

Very much thanks for sharing this interview for Fairlight Jarre - en.jeanmicheljarre.es

Fairlight Jarre is a website made by the Spanish Jean Michel Jarre Fanclub, which started in 1995 as Fanzine and continued later as a website.