BYG Records

Last updated
BYG Records
Founded1967 (1967)
FounderJean Georgakarakos
Jean-Luc Young
Fernand Boruso
Defunct1973 (1973)
Genre Free jazz, Avant-garde jazz
Country of origin France
Location Paris

BYG Records was a French record label known for the Actuel series specializing in free jazz. However, the label released a handful of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva, Freedom and Gong.

Contents

History

BYG Records was founded in March 1967 by Jean Georgakarakos, Jean-Luc Young, and Fernand Boruso. The name of the label was formed from the initial letters of the founders' surnames. Georgakarakos had previously established himself as a record distributor and importer, while Young worked for Barclay Records and Boruso for Saravah, the record label formed by Pierre Barouh.

The label invited American free jazz musicians to Paris to record in the summer of 1969, a time when they were receiving little support or attention in the United States. Many of these musicians were already overseas at the time, having appeared at the Pan-African Music Festival in Algiers in July 1969. [1] (Jazz photographer Jacques Bisceglia was largely responsible for connecting the label and musicians, and the "B" in BYG is often wrongly held to refer to Bisceglia.) The resulting albums are an important repository of free jazz recordings from the period.

BYG Actuel was also responsible for organising the Actuel festival, which took place in late October 1969 in the small Belgian town of Amougies. The festival was initially intended to take place in or near Paris, but was banned by the French authorities. It featured many leading exponents of progressive rock, such as Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Soft Machine, Ten Years After, Yes and The Nice. The festival was a popular success, with around 20,000 visitors over five nights, but it was a financial failure. In July 1970, Georgakarakos organised the Popanalia festival at Biot on the French Riviera, but this was also financially unsuccessful. By 1972, financial problems had plagued BYG to the point where it virtually went underground. Georgakarakos and Young later formed their own record labels, Celluloid (Georgakarakos) and Charly (Young). In 2002 a compilation album featuring the best of the label, JazzActuel: a collection of avant garde/free jazz/psychedelia from the BYG/Actuel catalogue of 1969–1971, was released by Charly (as a 3-CD set) and Get Back Records of Italy (as a 6-LP set). The collection was curated by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and journalist Byron Coley. [2]

Discography

(Actuel series releases)

Catalogue number
ArtistAlbum
529301 Cherry, Don Mu - First Part
529302 Art Ensemble of Chicago A Jackson in Your House
529303 Murray, Sunny Homage to Africa
529304 Shepp, Archie Yasmina, a Black Woman
529305 Gong Magick Brother
529306 Jones, Arthur Africanasia
529307Puig, MichelStigmates
529308 Greene, Burton Aquariana
529309 Lyons, Jimmy Other Afternoons
529310Jack, AlanBluesy Mind [never issued]
529311Shepp, Archie Poem for Malcolm
529312 Silva, Alan Luna Surface
529313 Bley, Paul Ramblin'
529314Acting TrioActing Trio
529315 Braxton, Anthony B-Xo/N-0-1-4-7a
529316 Cyrille, Andrew What About?
529317 Kuhn, Joachim Sounds of Feelings
529318Shepp, Archie Blasé
529319 Coursil, Jacques Way Ahead
529320Burrell, Dave Echo
529321 Moncur III, Grachan New Africa
529322Terroade, KennethLove Rejoice
529323 Thornton, Clifford Ketchaoua
529324 Ame Son Catalyse
529325 Freedom Freedom at Last
529326 Musica Elettronica Viva The Sound Pool
529327 Marietan, Pierre & Terry Riley Germ-Keyboard Study 2
529328Art Ensemble of Chicago Message to Our Folks
529329Art Ensemble of Chicago Reese and the Smooth Ones
529330Burrell, Dave La Vie de Bohème
529331Cherry, Don Mu - Second Part
529332Murray, Sunny An Even Break (Never Give a Sucker)
529333Moncur, GrachanAco Dei De Madrugada
529334 Redman, Dewey Tarik
529335Musica Elettronica VivaLeave the City
529336 Wright, Frank One for John
529337 Sharrock, Sonny Monkey-Pockie-Boo
529338Shepp, Archie And The Full Moon Ensemble Live In Antibes Vol. 1
529339Shepp, Archie And The Full Moon Ensemble Live In Antibes Vol. 2
529340 Sun Ra The Solar-Myth Approach Vol. 2
529341Sun RaThe Solar-Myth Approach Vol. 1
529342-4Silva, Alan Seasons
529345 Allen, Daevid Banana Moon
529346Kuhn, JoachimParis is Wonderful
529347Braxton, Anthony This Time...
529348Murray, Sunny Sunshine
529349Coursil, Jacques Black Suite
529350Jones, Arthur Scorpio
529351Shepp, Archie Live at the Pan-African Festival
529352Lacy, Steve Moon
529353 Gong Camembert Electrique

(Pop Blues series releases)

Catalogue number
ArtistAlbum
529501 The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation Watchin' Chain

Website

BYG Records launched its own website in 2020: http://www.bygrecords.com/

See also

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<i>Echo</i> (Dave Burrell album) 1969 studio album by Dave Burrell

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<i>Live in Paris</i> (Art Ensemble of Chicago album) 1974 live album by Art Ensemble of Chicago

Live in Paris is a double live album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris and first released on the BYG Actuel label in Japan as two separate volumes in 1974. It was issued on CD by Charly Records under the title 'Live In Paris' presumably to avoid confusion with the Delmark 'Live At Delmark Hall' album, and then later issued in the US, with the same artwork and design, by Fuel 2000 Records in the US. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, Malachi Favors Maghostut, Fontella Bass and Don Moye. Despite reissues identifying it as "Live In Paris" and claiming a date of 5 October 1969, it was actually a radio broadcast from performances in Chateauvailon on 13 August 1970.

<i>Banana Moon</i> 1971 studio album by Daevid Allen

Banana Moon is the debut solo album by Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist and Gong leader Daevid Allen, released in July 1971 on the French BYG Actuel label. The album is sometimes referred to as Bananamoon and it was also reissued as a Gong album.

<i>Yasmina, a Black Woman</i> 1969 studio album by Archie Shepp

Yasmina, a Black Woman is a jazz album by Archie Shepp, recorded in 1969 in Paris for BYG Actuel. It features musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The first track, giving its title to the album, is a long free jazz piece by an 11-piece orchestra; in it, the references to Africa that Shepp had experimented with only a few weeks earlier in Algiers are to be found in the use of African percussion instruments, or the African incantations sung by Shepp himself at the beginning of the track. The other two pieces, a homage to Sonny Rollins written by trombonist Grachan Moncur III and a standard, played by a more traditional quintet and quartet respectively, are more reminiscent of the hard bop genre, although the fiery playing of the musicians, notably Shepp himself, gives them a definite avant-garde edge. It was originally issued on CD by Affinity, mastered from an incredibly noisy vinyl source and later reissued by Charly from the original master tapes.

<i>Magick Brother</i> 1970 studio album by Gong

Magick Brother is the debut studio album by the progressive rock band Gong, recorded in Paris during September and October 1969 and released in March 1970 on the French BYG Actuel label.

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<i>Luna Surface</i> 1969 studio album by Alan Silva and his Celestrial Communication Orchestra

Luna Surface is an album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva, recorded on August 17, 1969 and released later that year on the BYG label as part of their Actuel series. His first recording as leader, it features Silva on violin along with a large ensemble known as the Celestrial Communication Orchestra.

<i>Sunshine</i> (Sunny Murray album) 1969 studio album by Sunny Murray

Sunshine is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray, his third as a leader. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label later that year. On the album, Murray is joined by Arthur Jones and Roscoe Mitchell on alto saxophone, Archie Shepp and Kenneth Terroade on tenor saxophone, Lester Bowie on trumpet, Dave Burrell on piano, and Malachi Favors and Alan Silva on bass.

<i>Homage to Africa</i> 1970 studio album by Sunny Murray

Homage to Africa is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined by saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Archie Shepp and Kenneth Terroade, trumpeter Lester Bowie, cornetist Clifford Thornton, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, vocalist Jeanne Lee, pianist Dave Burrell, bassist Alan Silva, and percussionists Malachi Favors, Earl Freeman, and Arthur Jones.

<i>An Even Break</i> (Never Give a Sucker) 1970 studio album by Sunny Murray

An Even Break (Never Give a Sucker) is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in November 1969, and released on the BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined by saxophonists Byard Lancaster and Kenneth Terroade, and bassist Malachi Favors.

<i>Ketchaoua</i> (album) 1969 studio album by Clifford Thornton

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<i>Way Ahead</i> 1969 studio album by Jacques Coursil

Way Ahead is an album by trumpeter and composer Jacques Coursil. It was recorded at Studio Saravah in Paris in July 1969, and was released later that year by BYG Records as part of their Actuel series. On the album, Coursil is joined by saxophonist Arthur Jones, bassist Beb Guérin, and drummer Claude Delcloo.

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One for John is an album by saxophonist Frank Wright. Dedicated to Wright's mentor, John Coltrane, it was recorded at Studio Saravah in Paris on December 5, 1969, and was released in 1970 by BYG Records as part of their Actuel series. On the album, Wright is joined by saxophonist Noah Howard, pianist Bobby Few, and drummer Muhammad Ali.

References

  1. Bridge across the cliff. Village Voice, 18 July 2000.
  2. Downbeat, June 2002.