Composed in 1970, Zëss had long been plagued by its incompleteness, its recording was deferred for years. Four decades after its first draft, the work has finally been recorded in an orchestral version that gives it both its true dreamlike dimension and its transcending power. For Zëss is above all the visionary reflection of an immemorial dream haunting the most obscure part of our souls. Zëss treads a line between a vital overflowing and the edges of the unlivable. It is an incandescent and heady oratorio where consciousness questions its other side in a measureless journey. Zëss indicates the ultimate reversal out of which bursts a beyond of music that only music can reach. Magma's whole story condensed… Recorded with the City of Prague philharmonic orchestra. BEHIND THE SCENE OF THE RECORDING: youtu.be/xCF9-k_LnOg OFFICIAL RELEASE JUNE 28th - AVAILABLE FOR YOU DEDICATED MAGMA FANS, ON JUNE 14th@SEVENTH RECORDS ORDER BEFORE MAY 31th AND GET A FREE SHIPPING* ZËSS seventhrecords LISTEN TO ZËSS Live at the Paris Philharmonic hall on June 26th. The album will also be available at the merchandising booth. philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/activity/concert/19105-magma *for this item only. If your order includes other items, shipping cost will be added.
I was thrilled when I got the email on this tonight. The mini documentary shows that when you combine Magma with the orchestra it has a rather Kamasi Washington vibe to it. I wasn't clear why Vander wasn't playing drums though ... something to do with his wrist injury?
Much like BB King and the guitar, I've never seen Vander sing and play at the same time (beyond a minimal cymbal crash). Since his vocals are the centerpiece of the song I think he wanted to concentrate on them. He's always had another drummer play on the various live versions of Zess.
Just a reminder that orders placed on Seventh Records for the upcoming Zëss have free shipping til May 31th!
Word from the front, ok Helsinki, was that the set list yesterday was Theusz Hamtaahk, Wurdah Itah, MDK and Hhai for the encore.
Zëss has arrived with me. For me it's always been a difficult piece: too much repetition in the seemingly interminable build-up, which admittedly works well in Emmenteht-Re but less so here. The orchestration is rather restrained for the first two-thirds (not helped by the way in which the band is mixed loud) but the key change at 28 minutes ushers the climactic sections where I imagine most listeners will find the meat of the piece. My first reaction is, well, disappointment. I'm not sure about the orchestration and it seems to be all sizzle and no sausage.
I picked up my copy of Zess from my (soon to be ex-) office. I have to say the version on the video is much better than this CD. I have a question which I have to ask Francis Linon tomorrow (hopefully) - where is Benoit and Jerome? They didn't feature in the video and they aren't listed in the CD list of personnel. In other news Magma are playing Nantes and Bordeaux in March 2020. More details when I get back from Paris.
Do you mean the Epok video with MacGaw and Antoine on drums? Because I always thought they had come up with the ultimate version of the song there and wondered why they were even bothering with a studio version. I like strings on records and will be interested to hear this version, but I thought Vander put it all on the line back then.
Yes, the Epok video. So, I'm back after the 50th anniversary gig. What a performance. They came on stage at 2030 and finally left the stage about midnight. There were a number of lengthy breaks so probably they were on stage for two and a half hours. The place was packed and as a grey haired old fool I was extremely pleased to see the number of young people (including children) there. Set list was Felicite Thosz Hhai (first part) Theusz Hamtaahk medley (with extracts from TH, Wurdah Itah, and MDK) Zess encore piece was Ehn Deiss More thoughts when I recover! Oh yes, I asked would they be playing Zess again in the forthcoming shows they are doing. The answer was no, they wouldn't be...
Ok, having had reasonable amounts of sleep I am now more able to review what went on. The four additional female vocalists came on for the TH medley onwards. I was particularly enchanted by one of them and having begged someone later on to introduce me to her I was somewhat shocked to discover that she was already one of my FB friends... The brass section just played on Zess. I'm told that the band only had access to the auditorium in the morning and given that there were a lot of complaints on the various FB groups about the sound then I suspect that the sound in the first part was not that great as they tried to get the right balance etc. I was right down the front as I always try to do. Francis Linon always chides me for doing that saying that you need to go further back to get the best sound. However I prefer to be in the 'spray zone' and am happy if the sound is not that perfect. There was a certain amount of changing who was playing keyboards with Jerome, Bruno Ruder and Simon Goubert taking turns. I had asked why Jerome and Benoit were not on the album but didn't get a convincing answer... I've spent the last few days listening to the Bobino 81, Les Voix 92 and Le Triton 2005 versions of Zess and comparing them against the new CD. I have to say the previous versions (especially the 2005 version) are far and away miles better than the new cd. I'm sorry but the orchestra doesn't do anything for me at all. I've been trying to find out the level of sponsorship I would need to pay to get the four additional vocalists to come to Britain in the autumn. It has been suggested (=easier) if I go to the Antibes gig where Magma are opening for King Crimson. However, this doesn't work for me. I spoke to Isabelle about the FB post after her wedding where some someone asked to whom she had got married - "was it our English friend Brian?". She laughed like a drain at this. Bar it being confirmed that they wouldn't be doing Zess on the tour, I didn't pick up any new titbits of news, there were just too many people in the dressing rooms. Sound systems problems apart, was I glad I went? Absolutely, especially when various people recognised me and said hello!
They've done lots of different things over the years as you will hear, but Wurdah Itah (under its original release as "Tristan et Iseult") was the first one I "got" at the time, and K.A. reminded me how great they were when they returned after a long break.
