Paris

Since a couple of years I am aiming to visit Paris at least once a year.

When I planned to go in April 2020, the pandemic kept me from going.

So it felt really good to finally be able to return again to one of my favourite cities, to have a great time and met some dear friends.

I stayed at - my good friend - Dominique Perrier's house from Saturday November 26th until Wednesday 30th.

During the days I took the train from his place to Montparnasse train station.

Together with Marie-Laure.

Saturday, the day of my arrival, I met with Marie-Laure Leboucher (C.Zen Prod) at La Défense. She also brought some new stock from Space Art and Francis Rimbert albums with her. After our meeting I travelled to Dominique, which also was a very pleasant reunion.

For the following days I had a small list of adresses (mainly music and retro game stores) which I wanted to visit these days. But in the end I only visited a couple of them, because I spent a lot of time to 'just' wandering around and absorb the atmosphere. In the end I only bought myself one CD and 4 special LP's for a friend.

Montparnasse view.

While I spent largest part of the time at the Les Halles area, I also visited the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur (looking over Paris by night), and went on top of the Montparnasse Tower for the first time. The 360 / panorama view was very impressive.

Some times I also watched some parts of the World Championship soccer matches on big screen.

 

With Michel and Dominique.

The time I was together with Dominique, we had 

good conversations, watched film, and I had the privilege to hear new Space Art music. Actually it's the music for a new Space Art album, which Dominique again wants to have released on my Deserted Island Music label.

 

Again, Tommy Rizzitelli (who unfortunately didn't have time to meet up these days) took place behind the drums for the new album, and Michel Geiss is going to take care of the mastering. Tuesday evening I finally got to meet with Michel in person, who came along Dominique's home. Besides discussing various (musical) topics, Michel exposed as a real storyteller. Loved it! We had a very joyful evening.

January programme
at IRCAM entrance.

Then, I impulsively decided to go back again to Paris the weekend of Janary 14th, 2023. This time together with some friends. We will visit Jean Michel Jarre's concerts at the IRCAM. Around that time I also expect to have more details about the upcoming Space Art album.

And last, but not least, Dominique gave me a couple of discs from his collaboration with Michel Valy from 2010, "Temps Réel". As well as he autographed some copies of his latest Space Art CD "Entrevues". Both are available from the Deserted Island Music webshop. Don't wait too long, as these titles (and in particular "Temps Réel") might not be added again as soon as they are sold out.

Space Art - Entrevues [new album release]

For April 11th there are scheduled three new album releases on my Deserted Island Music label:

- Mäläskä - First Day of Spring
- REMY - The Other Side
- Space Art - Entrevues

I will spotlight each of these albums on this blog within next couple of days.
Now it's time for the new album by the legendary Space Art.

Pre-order your copy from www.desertedislandmusic.nl




Space Art - Entrevues
Deserted Island Music | Limited edition LP | Release date: April 11th, 2020

TRACKLIST
1. Lunes
2. Psychadeliose
3. Retrouvailles
4. Meteo
5. Inox
6. Atmosphere
7. Space News
8. 2 B
9. Nous Savons Tout (remixed by Diakar)

THE ALBUM
Entrevues is Space Art’s first studio album since Dominique Perrier's Space Art Tribute (2012).
This new album is initially available as limited edition LP, and consists of two parts.
The first six tracks sound like they were written during the band’s early stages, back in the 70s. Brand new and fresh sounding electronic music compositions, partially co-produced by Tommy Rizzitelli. One of these typical Space Art tracks (Inox) features drums by Tommy’s father Roger - half of the band's original line-up - who passed away in 2010. For the other five of these music pieces, Tommy took place behind his drum kit, and perfectly succeeded to maintain his father's legacy.
To conclude the album, the classical sound makes place for three energetic modern style pieces. Including collaborations with Michel Valy, Marc Hazon and Lilli Lacombe. Familiar faces for anyone who attended any concerts Dominique and his friends in the last decade. Music that has only been performed live so far (Space News), an instrumental of a single track (2B) and a remix of one of the band’s classic themes (Nous Savons Tout), make this album a dynamic and varied journey though time and memories.

SPACE ART
Space Art was founded by Dominique Perrier and Roger Rizzitelli.
They are considered pioneers of the French electronic music genre.
The three albums that were released between 1977 and 1981 sold more than 3 million albums worldwide. During this period, Space Art had various chart hits, including Onyx and Speedway.
The band opened and joined Jean Michel Jarre's tour in 1981, being the first Western musicians in the the early post-Mao China.
After having been part of Jarre's concert and studio team for almost three decades, Dominique Perrier quit Jarre's band in 2010. With Space Art Tribute (2012) Dominique gathered musicians for the second phase of Space Art, and pays homage to Roger Rizzitelli and Jannette Woollacott. From that point Space Art did a number of international concerts, had festival appearances, and new music and re-issues of the classic albums were released.

Dominique Perrier and Roger Rizzitelli in 1977 (photo 1), Dominique Perrier (photo 2), Tommy Rizzitelli (photo 3).

Dominique Perrier (1950) might be called a legendary collaborator from Jean-Michel Jarre. Recognized as a keyboard virtuoso, he collaborated on all Jarre's albums from “Rendez-Vous” (1986) to “Oxygène 7-13” (1997), and toured with him until 2010. Dominique was also involved into productions of Christophe, Gipsy Kings, Didier Marouani & Space, Stone Age, and composed a number of movie soundtracks.

Roger “bunny” Rizzitelli (1951-2010) also worked with many artists, including Christophe, Claude Francois, Didier Marouani & Space, Thierry Matioszek, Nicoletta, and Dick Rivers.

Roger's son, Tommy Rizzitelli (1987), partially co-produced Entrevues.
Besides having collaborated with Low Parade, Faze, Goyokin, Bleu Tonerre, Simon Widdowson, and many other artist as a studio musician, he is also educator at Jazz Action Valence.