Magma - Concert 1971, Bruxelles - Théâtre 140

This archival Magma double disc album represents a concert recorded on 12th of November, 1971 in Brussels, Belgium at Theatre 140. The septet known from 1001 Centigrades (that is, with the three man horn section and minus the guitarist Claude Engel from the first album) performs a set culling material from the first two albums, plus two later Magma standards that were new at the time. Sound quality is clearly bootleg quality, as the balance between instruments isn’t the best. Worse still, the saxophone sound is occasionally particularly shrill and grating.

CD1 sounds especially noisy, offering interesting, if loose variations on the material off the debut album, which clearly sounds different without Engel’s guitar parts. For example, „Stoah“ cuts off before the flute driven sections and segues straight into „Kobaia“ that has a different bassline for most of the time than the studio version. This track is particularly worthwhile for an intense blow-out courtesy of tenor saxophonist Jeff (Yochk'o) Seffer. Lack of guitar means that the song is only seven minutes long, contrasting the usual 10 minute duration whenever guitar as a soloing instrument was present. On „Aina“, vocalist Klaus Blasquiz is heard singing some of the guitar notes. „Riah Sahiltaahk“ is a rare performance of that sidelong epic penned by drummer Christian Vander. It clearly lacks the sophistication of the studio version, as the instrumentation is simplified (no clarinets, but saxes) and it again sounds a bit loose. Also, they skip one of the early sections on some reasons. Still, Blasquiz does a fine job vocally.

CD2 has a slightly better sound, as the saxophone sound isn't as grating as on the first disc. As the entire Centigrades album is being performed, CD2 starts off with "Iss Lansei Doia" that has a long drawn out weird intro with shrieking noises. Compared to the studio version, Francois "Faton" Cahen plays acoustic piano for the main riff. Middle section lacks harmony vocals, but Blasquiz still provides the low guttural grunts as on the studio counterpart. Trumpeter Louis Toesca takes a short but sweet solo during the binary 5/4 beat (as opposed to the triplet 5/4 groove on the studio version) before the closing part. "Ki Iahk O Liahk" is again performed with saxes instead of clarinets on the first half, the smooth jazzy later part is mercifully short and it segues into an interesting bebop el-piano solo courtesy of Cahen before Vander concludes the piece with a short drum solo.

Last two numbers are earliest performances of two Magma classic era mainstays: "Sowiloi" is without the drawn out spacey intro, starting out straight with the main riff and melody, it also has a nice flute solo at the end by Teddy Lasry. While "Mekanik Kommandoh" is an embryonic, skeletal (but with an intriguing bossanova intro later dropped) take of what would later blossom into "Mekanik Destrüktiw Kommandoh". Interesting 16 minute version, the horn section does a fine job, although bassist Francis Moze (otherwise an underrated Magma bass player) here is clearly just malleable compared to the manic power of Jannick Top.

Not a great release, as it has a bootleg-ish sound quality but an interesting early document worth checking for hardcore fans and those who want more of the horn-driven early jazz-rock Magma.

Magma - 1001 Centigrades

After the first album, Magma underwent changes in line-up as well as sonic approach. First, two thirds of the horn section was revamped, with only reeds player Teddy Lasry retained. The new second reed player, Jeff (born Yochk'o) Seffer, brought bass clarinet to Magma's sound. Lasry also plays a soprano clarinet, blending in well with Seffer. There's less flute from Lasry though, which is a shame. Alas, Magma also lost the guitar player, who was not replaced. Pianist Francois Cahen adds electric piano to the mix. The result is that the band's sound on this album is closer to electric jazz/fusion, as opposed to the avant-jazz/psych-rock amalgam on their debut. At times the mix of ominous clarinets, cool electric piano and the driving rhythm section captures some sort of dark mystique, whereas some moments veer close to standard jazz-rock with typical electric piano and sax parts.

Where Magma reaches most of its transcendence on this album is Vander's epic opener "Riah Sahiltaahk". Originally occupying side one of the album, in the space of 22 minutes there are many sectional changes with shifting textural emphasis (brass, woodwinds, acoustic and electric piano) and alternating tempos and time signatures, carrying the operatic, at times chant-like ominous vocals. This composition is challenging, diverting and fairly inventive, while only hinting at the future Magma sound.

The other two pieces that occupied side two on the original vinyl, are more standard jazz-fusion compositions. Out of these, my favorite is "Iss Lansei Doia" (Teddy Lasry)which has all the elements you'd expect from a late sixties, early seventies jazz fusion music: nimble bass lines, electric piano backing and a theme carried by horns, all underpinned by open-ended drumming from Vander. But there's more: three minutes in the horns shift into freeform dialogue emulating traffic jam snarls, followed by a calm, almost classical sounding section with just unaccompanied reeds. Five minutes in, a fairly memorable Kobaian vocal section emerges, where Klaus Blasquiz employs his voice's lower register to a creepy effect. After that, a furious section in 5/4 follows, until the piece winds down.

"Ki Iahl O Liahk", Cahen's composition closes the album. Starts off fine, with a polyrhythmic workout with more sinister clarinet work and with more bizarre singing. Two minutes in, the piece shifts into a calm, melodic section with horns doubling the vocal melody and Vander providing some Elvin Jones like support along with unique syncopation. The sinister riff with clarinets returns, which then speeds up leading to a dissonant piano section with bizarre (and possibly electronically treated?) brass on top of it. And then? All the weirdness ends and the last four minutes are essentially just standard electric jazz jam showcasing electric piano and soprano sax. Not terrible, but too generic or mundane in comparison to Vander's vision. It's not surprising that after Cahen and Seffer left the band to form Zao, most of the jazz-fusion elements vanished from Magma's sound.

When it comes to the first two Magma albums, I largely prefer the debut. Although Vander's "Riah Sahiltaahk" easily rivals everything on the debut. Even though occasionally such criticism was valid, it is safe to say that early pre-MDK Magma was not merely "non-descript jazz-rock" as they're made out to be, but actually brought something uniquely Kobaian to the jazz-fusion table. But the total uniqueness was yet to arrive.

Magma - Magma (1970)

Wot's this? Kobaian jazz? Proto-Zeuhl? Avant-garde jazz rock from another planet? However you might classify the overall style of the debut, it's remarkable that Christian Vander and co were already a kicking unit when they released their debut in 1970. What makes this stand out compared to other albums is the presence of a horn section (including flute, lots of it!), along with the combination of acoustic piano and electric guitars (with a bit of acoustic thrown in too), which makes the overall sound seem like that of an avant-jazz combo (or even big band, given the combination of seven instrumentalists backing the vocals), with a bit of rock'n'roll audacity thrown in for a good measure. Throw in the dynamic Klaus Blasquiz on lead vocals with his strong, operatic voice alternating between creepy basso profundo and manic wailing, interacting with Vander's own distinctive screeching; and you have a jazz fusion sort of album that not only works with vocals, but kind of benefits from their presence. That they sing in their own constructed language, makes it all sound even more eccentric.

The music itself is swell as well, all tracks have something to offer, whether it's the awesome riff and groove of "Kobaia", the haunting flutes of wind player Teddy Lasry's composition "Sohia", the insane vocal operatics with free-jazz backdrop on "Stoah" or the eclecticism of the multi-part "Naü Ektila", where they move from pastoral chamber music like parts to rocky grooves to folky melancholy with acoustic guitar and flutes to jazz-rock jamming with awesome horn riffage and great piano soloing. There's even an awesome Pharoah Sanders like section with shimmering percussion and jovial flute in the final composition "Müh". The music can sound alternately intense and mellow, beautiful and ugly, melodic and dissonant. For every gentle flute passage you'll get to hear strident and dangerous horn blasts. Meeting of jazz and rock implies some sort of duality co-existing and Magma's music here is a challenging array of juxtapositions. All held together by Christian Vander's kick-butt drumming. While it's all more jazz-infused and very different from Magma's later work, it's still remarkable that they pulled off a double album this compelling.