Jacques Bisceglia, 1940-2013

Black & White Fantasy

French photographer Jacques Bisceglia passed away on March 1st, 2013. Even if his tool was not a musical instrument, his work is an integral part of the history of the music we love and we feel it is important to pay tribute to him. From the 60's onward, Jacques Bisceglia photographed many moments of jazz making: iconic episodes such as the Pan-African Festival in Algiers or Albert Ayler at the Fondation Maeght, but also many more mundane moments, daily life episodes or concerts now forgotten, moments he captured masterfully.

At the end of Jacques Bisceglia's Black & White Fantasy book, published in 1984 and now out-of-print, Abbey Lincoln wrote "Bisceglia's work speaks for itself, of course." Very much so, this is why we would like to share a few pictures, taken from Black & White Fantasy.

alan silva & françois tusques - paris, 1969

don cherry - paris, 1968

anthony braxton & barbara bisceglia - paris, 1971

 

beb guérin - paris, 1970

june tyson, richard wilkinson, marshall royal, eloe omoe, sun ra - between paris and donaueschingen, 1970

sonny simmons, barbara donald & son - san francisco, 1971

For more information on Jacques Bisceglia's life and his often astute views on the history of the music, see William Parker's essential Conversations book (Rogue Art, 2011). The book features an interview with Bisceglia (the only non-musician) and is illustrated with his work. Rogue Art also published a collaboration between Bisceglia and poet Steve Dalachinsky, titled Reaching Into the Unknown (2009). French speaking readers might want to look for the "Memories of You" series of articles Bisceglia wrote for the Improjazz magazine.

peter gannushkin - peter brötzmann & jacques bisceglia - new york, 2009

 

KENNETH TERROADE- LOVE REJOICE (BYG 1969)

'BOROMIR' SAID
"Kenneth Terroade - Love Rejoice Paris 1969..
Kenneth Terroade: tenor sax, flute
Ronnie Beer: alto, tenor sax, flute
Evan Chandley: bass clarinet, flute
Francois Tusques - piano
Beb Guerin: bass
Earl Freeman: bass
Claude Delcloo: drums

Like all BYG Actuel recordings, the sound quality is not brilliant, but I think it is a good example of the genre. I think this was Terroade's only outing as leader. Jamaican-born, he moved to London when he was fourteen. Internet references indicate that he played with Chris Magregor and cohorts, which probably explains Ronnie Beer's appearance on this album, as well as British artists like John Surman and Mike Osbourne. I've traced one album from this period, Friendship Next Of Kin, which I've seen for sale at 180 euros. He moved to France where he made recordings on BYG with the likes of Sunny Murray, Shepp, Dave Burrell etc. I've found no trace of him after the early 70s, so did he meet an early and untimely death ? Scans are attached

THANKS B, I DONT KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT TERROADE, apart from the fact that he appeared on a few albums, on byg, sunny murry's sunshine , and witches and devils, and "never give a sucker an even break"
and a record by mongezi feza which a friend of mine owns ,i cant remember what its called.
hes also on alan silva's lunar surface, and the triple lp celestial communications orchestra.He's also on a few great rock albums, playing flute ..i think..
doctor john's- sun moon and herbs
and, daevid allen (from gong)'s bannana moon.
this has been available, sporadically
as a vinyl only "reissue"of dubious provenance on the abraxas lable.
apparently the owners of 'abraxas' have little respect for the original artists appearing on the discs and they get nothing, which is from what ive heard and read exactly what happened the first time round, yep thats right some of the jazz artists who made records for byg
claim they never even got paid.
In any case this, does seem pretty hard to obtain.

192kbs is pretty low fi, so if you want to enrich the owners of 'abraxas', who make very poorly pressed vinyl reissues, and dont pay any artist royalties, buy the album if you can find it!!!!!!!!!theres a beautiful photo taken by valerie wilmer of terroade in 1971 here
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/magnify.php?imageid=im00229

this has been ripped by boromir from his original vinyl, not the abraxas pressing
(i have half a dozen abraxas "reissues" as well as a couple of originals , the originals sound much more vivid, the abraxas pressings have inexplicable pressing faults, and in the case of my copy of jimmy lyons- other afternoons, actual pops and clicks even though the record was new when i bought it and is apparently unmarked, a tape of the same which i made 15 years ago sounds better than that pressing. issues of royalties and legitimacy aside, the music is not being done justice ,by these amateurish vinyl pressings.