Free Jazz by François Tusques released by Disques Mouloudji in 1965.

Comprising some of the earliest uninhibited performances from key musicians behind records by Serge Gainsbourg, Jef Gilson, Triangle, Don Cherry, Barbara and countless other groundbreaking European jazz records and freakish films, this LP captures the birth of an exciting movement that would soon earn its Parisian birthplace as the go-to European spiritual home of improvised and avant-garde music. Spearheaded by polymath pianist and composer François Tusques this 1965 French LP coined the phrase “free jazz” before the American genre of the same name had fully taken shape and packed its suitcase; laying the foundations (alongside Jef Gilson’s Enfin!) for a unique satellite brand of jazz that would later provide visiting afro American avant-gardeners with a vibrant Parisian platform....

https://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/shop/francois-tusques-free-jazz/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chL_NVlqHDU&list=PLs4X3XDLrDcdUEIF_sJ4k7Z_XChUyP7ya&index=1

#FrançoisTusques #FreeJazz #Music #Jazz #FrenchJazz

Soul Jazz by the Georges Arvanitas Quintet released on Columbia in 1960.

One of the most hard-hitting albums ever cut by pianist Georges Arvanitas – an early effort that's all soul jazz all the way through! Although Arvanitas is best known as a committed modernist, especially in later years, this sweet early 60s session is a stone cooker in the best mode of Blue Note dates of the time – tight, swinging, and perfectly poised with just the right space for some excellent solos from Francois Jeanneau on tenor, Bernard Vitet on trumpet, and Arvanitas himself on piano – all grooving in a style that would make the Jazz Messengers proud, but also one that's got some key touches of postwar Parisian jazz too. Bass is by Michel Gaudry and drums are by Daniel Humair – and titles include "Oblivion", "This Here", "Poco Loco", "Bouncin With Bud", "Bohemia After Dark", and "Mister X" - Dusty Groove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgHe602KsY8

#GeorgesArvanitas #FrenchJazz #HardBop #FrancoisJanneau #Jazz #Music

Afternoon in Paris is an album by American pianist and composer John Lewis and French singer Sacha Distel recorded for the Atlantic label.

Allmusic reviewer, Alex Henderson stated: "the part-American, part-French group of improvisers provides an above-average bop album" - Wikipedia

Faint praise as this an excellent bop Lp and I did not realise before hearing this what a great jazz guitarist Sacha Distel was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWiUF7HWOkM&list=RDCWiUF7HWOkM&start_radio=1

#JohnLewis #SachaDistel #Frenchjazz #jazz #Music #Bop

New Call From France by The Jef Gilson Nonet feat. Jean Louis Chautemps, released in 1966 on SABA.

London Jazz Collector wrote:

Three of France’s outstanding front-line players: Jean-Louis Chautemps, Francois Janneau and Claude Lenissois – come into their own as solists in a nonet setting, an excellent showcase for their talents without an overwhelming nineteen-piece big band setting...

It covers familiar Gilson territory, large ensemble with European/ romantic melody leanings but lots of fire in the belly. One, maybe two tracks I recognised from Gilson compendium albums, merely recognition of outstanding material, and much better heard in context of the whole contemporary album rather than a sampler of “picked cherries” without context.

https://londonjazzcollector.wordpress.com/2024/12/20/jef-gilson-new-call-from-france-1966-mps/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l49rmbnArZU&list=RDl49rmbnArZU&start_radio=1

#JefGilson #ModalJazz #Jazz #FrenchJazz #Music #JeanLouisChautemps #FrancoisJanneau #MPS #SABA

Humair Jeanneau Texier by Humair Jeanneau Texier, released on Owl Records in 1979.

Daniel Humair (born 23 May 1938 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Swiss drummer, composer, and painter.

François Jeanneau (born June 15, 1935, Paris) is a French jazz saxophonist, flautist, and composer.

Henri Texier (French: [ɑ̃ʁi tɛksje]; born 27 January 1945) is a French jazz double bassist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5HYkoIn5G8&list=RDw5HYkoIn5G8&start_radio=1

#DanielHumair #FrançoisJeanneau #HenriTexier #Jazz #FrenchJazz #Music

Akagera by Daniel Humair - François Jeanneau - Henri Texier, released on JMS in 1980.

Soundohm wrote:

"..Existing within the great French tradition that unifies the moving image with the forefront of contemporary music, Akagera was conceived to be the sonic accompaniment for a documentary focused on the lives of animals in Africa that was directed by Gérard Vienne... The album's title, like that of the documentary, is drawn from the name for the Nile at its origin in Rwanda, within a land of a thousand hills on the Tanzanian border. Featuring Humair on drums, percussion, and syntoba, Jeanneau on sax, various flutes, bass clarinet, and synth, and Texier on double bass, oud, and percussion, as well as brief intervention by Gordon Beck on piano, Akagera unfolds like a dream, channeling majestic scenes of Africa and the Savannah into its core..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GFvLnMdcHM&list=PLS5w9I362fFpE7Y8JckKQ7YGZJS1KKeYB&index=1

#DanielHumair #FrançoisJeanneau #HenriTexier #Jazz #FrenchJazz #Music #Oud #Soundtrack

Hum ! by Daniel Humair, René Urtreger, Pierre Michelot, released on Vega in 1960.

And here is an English translation of Raymond Mouly’s original French liner notes from the album:

“During the Fall of 1960, one could hear at Club Saint-Germain-des-Pres a trio, full of swing and musical skill, delighting a small number of fans, gathered in close groups, as entrenched from the inattentive crowd of international squares. The three men conveyed with their music how much fun they were having, even though they had only been playing together for a short time; but the way their musical conceptions complement each other, the compatibility of their personalities, and their common love for a work well done, have given their trio a remarkable degree of quality.

https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2018/06/hum-humair-urtreger-michelot.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_jOcxQ1rWo&list=PLSy5BNvS3WjKFiB8H7Ly28OwhT8X0Kuc1&index=1

#DanielHumair #RenéUrtreger #PierreMichelot #jazz #frenchjazz #jazzpianotrio

René Urtreger Trio by René Urtreger Trio, released on Versailles in 1957.

A review of a compilation which includes all the tracks on this 1957 French LP on parsifal.be:

...René put together a new trio with Paul Rovère on bass and Al Levitt on drums, Lewis decided to cut four tracks for an Atlantic album he produced called Jazz Piano International, intended for the American market.

This, in turn, piqued the interest of the Versailles label, which asked René to record a new trio album, which he led with hard swinging imagination. There is a free-wheeling, coasting sort of feeling to his playing that is, still today, truly exhilarating. He was described by André Hodeir as “one of the European musicians who swings the best.”...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNSGlKaZRzI&list=RDKNSGlKaZRzI&start_radio=1

#RenéUrtreger #bebop #frenchjazz #jazzpianotrio #jazz #VersaillesRecords

Modern Moods From The Club St. Germain aka Maurice Meunier And His Orchestra by Maurice Meunier And His Orchestra, released on Barclay in 1956.

A rare gem from the postwar jazz scene in Paris -- a sweet set that features both clarinet from Maurice Meunier, a great player who's clearly learned a lot from the American artists who were becoming regulars on his scene at the time! The date has Meunier working in both quartet and quintet formation -- with players who include William Boucaya on baritone sax, either Raymond Fol or Rene Urtreger on piano, Pierre Michelo on bass, and Christian Garros or Jean-Louis Viale on drums! The work has a tightly swinging mode, with perhaps a slight echo of bop -- a bit like some of Buddy DeFranco's best work for Verve in the 50s, especially given the sharp tone that Meunier gets from his horn.- Dusty Groove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjOV7_4sRns&list=PLEeDJhmY1QjOuiPyzrsoAVtntpvTFnQIm&index=1

#MauriceMeunier #frenchjazz #parisjazz #reneurtreger

Jazz in Paris: Joue Bud Powell Review by Ken Dryden

René Urtreger was only 20 years old and brand new to the jazz scene at the time of his debut recording, yet he was already making an impression. His tribute to Bud Powell finds him playing bop with some authority, covering some of the troubled genius' best compositions. Accompanied by bassist Benoit Quersin and drummer Jean-Louis Viale, Urtreger shows a tendency to tackle nearly everything at a moderate tempo, though it might have been that his rhythm section wasn't up to handling a faster pace. "So Sorry Please" is full of campy humor as Powell intended, though "Parisian Thoroughfare" would have benefited from a bit more risk-taking. Urtreger's two original works include the roller coaster "À la Bud" (which seems to be based on the chord changes of "Tea for Two") and the stunning ballad "Mercedes."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21aFoeeFt-M&list=RD21aFoeeFt-M&start_radio=1

#RenéUrtreger #BudPowell #jazzpiano #Frenchjazz #1955injazz