{"title":"Henri Texier","description":"\u003cp style=\"font-size:16px\"\u003eHenri Texier started on piano at fifteen in Paris nightclubs, switched to double bass at sixteen after being fascinated by Wilbur Ware's hard bop attack behind Thelonious Monk, and taught himself the instrument. He formed his first group in 1965 inspired by Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman, making it one of the earliest French free jazz ensembles, and spent the rest of the 1960s working with Jean-Luc Ponty, Michel Portal and François Jeanneau before joining Phil Woods's European Rhythm Machine from 1968 to 1972 alongside Daniel Humair, the pianist George Gruntz and guitarist Gordon Beck. The Humair-Jeanneau-Texier trio of the late 1970s produced \"Humair Jeanneau Texier\" (Owl, 1979) and \"Akagera\" (JMS, 1980), an Africa-themed double album that pointed toward one of the two great conceptual threads in his own later work. In 1982 he formed a trio with saxophonist Louis Sclavis and drummer Aldo Romano that developed into the Romano-Sclavis-Texier band, documenting Africa through three Label Bleu albums photographed by Guy Le Querrec. A parallel thread opened in 1993 with \"An Indian's Week\" (Label Bleu), a suite exploring the links Texier drew between the genocide of Native Americans and the oppression of African Americans through jazz. That project ran through \"Sky Dancers\" (Label Bleu, 2016) and \"An Indian's Life\" (Label Bleu, 2023), forming a trilogy across three decades. He signed to Label Bleu in 1986 and has remained there for the core of his solo recording career. His son Sébastien Texier joined him as clarinettist and saxophonist in the early 1990s and has been a regular collaborator since. Texier remains active in Paris, aged 81.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"humair-jeanneau-texier-akagera-jms-records-vinyl-lp","title":"Humair \/ Jeanneau \/ Texier - Akagera (JMS Records Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHumair \/ Jeanneau \/ Texier - \u003cem\u003eAkagera\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 2021 Disques JMS Reissue (JMS 012)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDaniel Humair on drums, François Jeanneau on tenor and soprano saxophone, flute and lyricon, and Henri Texier on double bass, oud and percussion\u003c\/strong\u003e, the trio described by JMS as \"one of the founding moments of an aesthetic and an ethic of French jazz.\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eComposed as the soundtrack for a French television documentary\u003c\/strong\u003e about the animals of the Akagera region of Rwanda, directed by Gérard Vienne and broadcast in 19 episodes on national television, with nine tracks that move between African-influenced modal jazz, Middle Eastern textures and European improvisation.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFirst vinyl reissue of a 1980 recording\u003c\/strong\u003e on the French JMS label, with Gordon Beck guesting on piano for one track.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDaniel Humair, François Jeanneau and Henri Texier were three of the most important jazz musicians in France by the time they formed a trio in the late 1970s. Humair, a Swiss-French drummer who had played with Dexter Gordon, Phil Woods, Eric Dolphy and Chet Baker during their various European residencies, is also an abstract painter whose visual work has been exhibited alongside his music. Jeanneau, a Parisian saxophonist, went on to co-found and direct the Orchestre National de Jazz in 1986. Texier, a Parisian double bassist, became one of the most recorded European jazz musicians through decades of work on the Label Bleu catalogue. When they recorded \u003cem\u003eAkagera\u003c\/em\u003e at CBS Studios in Paris across October and November 1980, the commission came from outside jazz: the director Gérard Vienne needed a score for a wildlife documentary about the animals of the Akagera region of Rwanda, at the source of the Nile. The trio treated the assignment as an album rather than a backing track.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe nine pieces are short by free-jazz standards, most running between two and five minutes, but the range they cover in that time is striking. Texier plays oud alongside his double bass, bringing a Middle Eastern tonality into \"Arfia\" and \"Maghreb De Canard.\" Humair plays a Syntoba, a percussion-activated electronic instrument, adding a synthetic layer to his drum work. Jeanneau plays lyricon, an early wind-driven synthesiser, alongside his tenor and soprano saxophones and flute, and the original pressing credits also list bass clarinet, an Oberheim Polyphonique 8 and an ARP 2600 among his instruments. All three compose: \"Akagera\" and \"Akagera II\" are group compositions, \"Rampoon\" and \"Arfia\" are Jeanneau's, \"Nebbia\" is Texier's with Gordon Beck guesting on piano, and \"Mongol Fier\" is Humair's. Jean-Marie Salhani produced. This is the 2021 JMS reissue (JMS 012), the first vinyl repress since the original 1980 pressing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Disques JMS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44190981128251,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/download_e2b4186d-af19-4fd0-b727-5e7f3839d794.jpg?v=1789360528"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/henri-texier.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}