Gilbert Artman
French drummer, multi-instrumentalist and composer. Leader of the pioneering electronic rock and jazz group Lard Free, and director of the long-running multimedia ensemble Urban Sax. He has played with a number of other bands over the years including Jac Berrocal's eclectic Catalogue, Lard Free, Komintern and Clearlight
French drummer, multi-instrumentalist and composer. Leader of the pioneering electronic rock and jazz group Lard Free, and director of the long-running multimedia ensemble Urban Sax. He has played with a number of other bands over the years including Jac Berrocal's eclectic Catalogue, Lard Free, Komintern and Clearlight
Member of: Urban Sax
Assassins
At the beginning of the 80s, guitarist Jean-Francois Pauvros and trumpeter Jac Berrocal invented the trio Catalogue, responsible for a rather provocative crazy rock with its saturated voices and decadent lyrics... We remember "Khomeini Twist" from the 1982 album "Penetration". After Jean-Pierre Arnoux's brief appearance, Gilbert Artman sat behind the drums for three explosive vinyls which were to mark their era to the point of still resonating today. Sound recordist Jean-Marc Foussat, a long-tim…
Gilbert Artman . Etienne Jaumet
Gilbert Artman (bass clarinet, drums, synths), one of the great names of the French underground of the 70s with Lard Free and Urban Sax together withe Etienne Jaumet of Zombie Zombie fame. This LP is what we may call Cosmic-jazz! Progressive tracks with electronics, harmonium, xylophone, synth and saxophones!
Brussel Live
Highlights of their first 2 concerts in about 20 years, live in Brussels (2007-2008), shows the trio of Gilbert Artman, Jac Berrocal and Jean-Francois Pauvros anarchistic, powerful and controversial as ever. Uncertain rockers, exacerbated freejazzmen, pranksters, Jean-Francois Pauvros: guitarist, Jac Berrocal: trumpeter and vocalist, Gilbert Artman: drummer and pianist are a bit of everything, rock stomping, boring the avant garde, enraging the virtuosity. Trespassing the unbreakable with the su…
Inside
The saxophone is most often associated with jazz, a lead instrument that’s strong on melody and a potent vehicle for improvisation. Urban Sax puts all those ideas to bed. For those unfamiliar, Urban Sax is the creative outlet of composer Gilbert Artman, who started the group back in the mid-70s, and composes and arranges all of the group’s material. The “group” in this case is over 75 performers, consisting mostly of saxophones (the entire family from sopranino to bass), but also including clari…
8 Petites Pièces De Variété
Another evolution of Urban Sax concept, composed and directed by the visionary composer Gilbert Artman, conceived as a double quintet of talented multi-instrumentalists (featuring Jac Berrocal, Bernard Weber, Frederic Acquaviva and Emiko Ota among others) players working over a compositonal control of sound spatialization
Quad Sax
A cut-down quartet version of Urban Sax composed and directed by the visionary composer Gilbert Artman, fusing urban ambiance and electronics with his unique concept of minimalism and jazz. The musical result is perfectly illustrated by the that An exploration of minimalistic soundscapes and repetitive music designing a spacey odyssey through unknown territories. An ethereal meeting somewhere between Steve Reich, Magma and post-Daevid Allen Gong.
Fraction Sur Le Temps
At last, in stock now!! Urban Sax's third LP was recorded in 1982 & 1985, and released in 1985 on Celluloid, and it is an absolute diamond - sharing Julian Cope words "Everything starts with this massive (and I mean it...we're basically talking about something the size of an orchestra here) wash of sound, like something dropped wholesale out of the trippier parts of Ligeti's material in the "2001" soundtrack. Then we get swept into the primal repetition of a simple motif...very Magma-like, save …
Spiral
At last, in stock now!! 1991's Spiral makes its first ever appearance on vinyl format here. Previously it had only been available on a impossible to find CD, consisting of eight short to mid-length pieces, the major change being the prominence of the twenty-two piece choir, which shares the spotlight equally with the saxes, and three vibraphones, all which results in a far more ethereal and majestic sound than its predecessors. Urban Sax was created in 1973. Gilbert Artman, the mastermind behind…
Urban Sax 2
At last, in stock now!! Urban Sax's second LP, issued in 1978 on Cobra, is the continuation of their debut work. Actually it features parts 2 and 3 of the pieces contained on 1, again similarities with works by La Monte Young, Phil Niblock, Glenn Branca, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, a.o. are present, and it's the perfect companion to 1 as it is, basically, part two of that first album. a spiral malax of surreal, undulating soundscapes. Urban Sax was created in 1973. Gilbert Artman, the mastermind b…
Urban Sax 1
Much-needed reissue of these incredible LPs. Urban Sax's debut LP was issued in 1977 on Cobra, recalling the best Terry Riley, stunningly psychedelic, it’s the perfect combination of hazy, fluttering psychedelia and tough, tactile reed work. Urban Sax was created in 1973. Gilbert Artman, the mastermind behind Lard Free -who has also participated in dozens of recordings by other artists of the French experimental scene that included Delired Chameleon Family, Clear Light, Komintern, etc.- develope…
Live In Pori 1984
In July 1984, the otherworldly entourage of over fifty musicians of Urban Sax swarmed across the coastal town of Pori, Finland, to perform a historic concert at the Pori Jazz Festival. The masked musicians, veiled in space suits and fencing masks, arrived at the scene of the concert in the Central Pori Church by fire engines, forklifts and water buses from all over the town, followed by an ecstatic and bewildered crowd of festival-goers and amazed locals alike. For those present, the explosively…
Sonabular
Beautiful free form vibraphone music with articulated drumming, underrated and very little know, highly recommended! In 1971-72, English vibraphonist Robert Wood was a member of French band Lard Free, the band Gilbert Artman led before Urban Sax. Wood later asked Artman to play drums on his own second LP, ‘Sonanbular’, while Artman included vibraphone on the first Lard Free official LP (1973), as well as the Clear Light Symphony LP (1975) and Urban Sax. The ‘Sonanbular’ front cover (the industri…
Insomnie
2nd album by this French trio made up Gilbert Artman (post-Lard Free, Urban Sax), Jac Berrocal and Jean-Francois Pauvros. here's the utterly fantastic third album from this brilliantly anarchic supergroup of stalwart iconoclasts. While their debut featured a largely improvised live dialogue between Jac Berrocal and Jean-Francois Pauvros, their two follow-up releases would find them a radically conceptually altered three piece with the inclusion of one of the greatest and most radical artists to …