Magma news

[calyx]

I agree. If ol' Zëbëhn Sträin de Güstäh ever made a tactical error, it was this.

Well, I don't think it was primarily *his* decision, but he was man enough to deliver the news himself, where some would have chickened out and done it by e-mail.

[selfextraction]

Well, I don't think it was primarily *his* decision, but he was man enough to deliver the news himself, where some would have chickened out and done it by e-mail.

For a band that has an excellent lineage of bass players, I do think Bubu was the best, or at least my favorite.

However, the more I listen to the latest album, I think Jimmy Top deserves his due. Some fine playing on there. Particularly that first track.

[Dana5140]

[Conti]

I agree. If ol' Zëbëhn Sträin de Güstäh ever made a tactical error, it was this.

I can only figure how bad were the vibes in the band for Bubu to be sacked like that.

[boilk]

Philippe is a monster bassist, in both tone, and technical skill, and that was a crushing blow for me, when he was removed.

Was there not also some issue about him spending too much time on other projects?

Neil

[Steve F.]

If we are posting videos of incredibly sick Bubu performances, I vote for this

[Steve F.]

Well, I don't think it was primarily *his* decision

Sorry; I should have clarified as Ms. Zëbëhn Sträin de Güstäh …

I still think that it was a fairly drastic error.

[GuitarGeek]

Sorry; I should have clarified as Ms. Zëbëhn Sträin de Güstäh …

I still think that it was a fairly drastic error.

Don't you mean Ms Deluxe?

[Dana5140]

Was there not also some issue about him spending too much time on other projects?

I don't think this was it. After all, right now, Caroline Indjein has something like 3 other bands she is playing with, Laura Guaratto has one, Thierry Eliaz leads his own jazz band, etc. Herve does acapella, etc. It was indeed Stella who announced the departures, which said nothing really at all about why the decision was made, but of course Christian had to sign off as well. But Stella is the business driver of the band. My own take is that in the year preceding the firings, something just seemed off with the band- maybe years of touring with the same repertoire, maybe fatigue, but for real, the level of energy in clips from that time was lower than I am used to. I honestly felt change was coming. But not what happened, which shocked and upset me. Not Bubu! Jimmy Top does not have Bubu's punch, drive and ability to shift octaves on a drop.

Only Isabelle is a long-time "employee" of the band. I think she began singing with them in 1987, so she has 34 years in tow, more than half her life. I know she has done a bit of singing outside the band, with a few discs (Ad Vitam, for example, Artus, and with Addy Deat's husband's funk band), but outside of Magma I have no idea what she does when they are not rehearsing or touring. BTW, good tattoos now! Otherwise, people come and people go, all the time- keyboardists in particular. I've seen Magma 3 times, each with a different guitarist- James, Jim Grandcamp, Rudy Blas. Same for keys.

[unclemeat]

The last time I saw Bubu play with Magma (Le Triton, 11 september 2019), I had no sense of any tensions in the band. The performance had a few "floating" moments. I did notice that the bass parts were becoming freer. That was also the case at Juan-les-Pins in july. A good thing, imo, but perhaps inappropriate for Magma.

[calyx]

The last time I saw Bubu play with Magma (Le Triton, 11 september 2019), I had no sense of any tensions in the band. The performance had a few "floating" moments. I did notice that the bass parts were becoming freer. That was also the case at Juan-les-Pins in july. A good thing, imo, but perhaps inappropriate for Magma.

Strange - I did sense a lot of tension that night, actually. There had been ongoing tension about Bubu's high volume on stage, which annoyed Stella, and as a result he was often lower in the mix than would have sounded right (to me). It was particularly obvious to me on that gig. I remember someone telling me that Bubu's days in the band were numbered, and he turned out to be right.

Dana, "It was indeed Stella who announced the departures" - as far as I'm aware, it was Christian who announced to the 3 guys that they were being let go, backstage after the final Scandinavian date.

[Dana5140]

Dana, "It was indeed Stella who announced the departures" - as far as I'm aware, it was Christian who announced to the 3 guys that they were being let go, backstage after the final Scandinavian date.

I meant the public announcement. :-)

I think the difficulty in finding marimbas to rent overseas, which had been an ongoing issue, along with the fact Stella was just tired of its sound, led to them letting Benoit go. I think Benoit is doing more skydiving photography these days than music! Jerome was in a Magma copy band before he was in Magma, so I thought he was not going to be a long-timer, just that he knew its repertoire quite well.

I miss Bubu. It's been 5 years! Here he is with Welcome X:

[Marco]

Bubu is also a guest on my band's upcoming sophomore record.

[boilk]

I don't think this was it. After all, right now, Caroline Indjein has something like 3 other bands she is playing with, Laura Guaratto has one, Thierry Eliaz leads his own jazz band, etc. Herve does acapella, etc. It was indeed Stella who announced the departures, which said nothing really at all about why the decision was made, but of course Christian had to sign off as well. But Stella is the business driver of the band. My own take is that in the year preceding the firings, something just seemed off with the band- maybe years of touring with the same repertoire, maybe fatigue, but for real, the level of energy in clips from that time was lower than I am used to. I honestly felt change was coming. But not what happened, which shocked and upset me. Not Bubu! Jimmy Top does not have Bubu's punch, drive and ability to shift octaves on a drop.

You are likely right. I only mention about Bubu being in other bands, because Stella referenced it, when talking about him being let go and how surprising it was for some people, saying something along the lines of: "I think that he was very surprised by it too....now he will have more time for his other projects".

I also liked the young keyboardist they had, in the video that Steve posted, who head banged his way through a lot of the songs. But he didn't fit into their future plans either.

Neil

[calyx]

I only mention about Bubu being in other bands, because Stella referenced it, when talking about him being let go and how surprising it was for some people, saying something along the lines of: "I think that he was very surprised by it too....now he will have more time for his other projects".

Well, that's the kind of thing one would say in these circumstances, and he does have other bands, but Magma was far and away his main source of income, so it's not like this was harmless for him - and as I said, he's still very pissed off about the whole thing, and wants to dissociate himself from Magma (which admittedly is difficult with One Shot, whose main claim to fame it to have been made up entirely of Magma members or, in Daniel's case, former member of a Magma tribute band). The three bands I can think of - OS, Welcome-X and Wax'In - don't gig that often. The only time he had a very active side gig was with Guillaume Perret's Electric Epic.

[Steve F.]

Magma was far and away his main source of income, so it's not like this was harmless for him

I'm very sorry to read this...

[Dana5140]

I'm very sorry to read this...

And even that cannot have been riches. Magma does not play a lot of concerts, has a lot of people at each gig beyond the actual musicians, and until recently played generally small venues. When they first came to Chicago, 1999, with maybe 200 people attending at 50 bucks each, how far could that have gone with musicians, air travel, hotel fees, etc.? Maybe Mike Eisenberg can answer?

How well to their records/CDs sell, too? Since maybe you get some money for each unit. But I do not see it as a way to become wealthy if you are a sideman. However, this could true ignorance on my part, as I do not understand the financial side of doing concerts when you are not a huge band.

In the end, I am sorry Bubu has not been snapped up by someone somewhere.

[calyx]

And even that cannot have been riches. Magma does not play a lot of concerts, has a lot of people at each gig beyond the actual musicians, and until recently played generally small venues. When they first came to Chicago, 1999, with maybe 200 people attending at 50 bucks each, how far could that have gone with musicians, air travel, hotel fees, etc.?

I know this is an America-centric forum, but if you're basing your assessment of Bubu's earnings on their admittedly infrequent North American tours, you're missing the band's main activity, which is at home. Magma was quite busy these past few years, with major tours on anniversary years (2015, 2019...), and much higher attendance numbers than in the US (500-1,000 mostly). All in all, while not the best-paying gig ever, it was probably a good one, and the only one of its kind in France. As for records, nobody counts on them as a source of income these days, certainly not non-composing members.

[calyx]

Met a member of Magma by chance in a Parisian jazz club last night, so here’s some fresh news. There won't be a lot more live dates this year as their French promoter wants one big tour (at least as France goes) rather than isolated dates - the tour in question has been postponed twice and is now due to happen in March/April 2025. Beginning in October plans have been made to rehearse a newly composed piece by Vander (NOT from the archives this time) and the plan is to play a totally different set (old & new) on said tour. No new album is planned as yet - there will be no specific release to tie in with the tour. No plans to tour abroad were mentioned but that may have been an oversight in our conversation. IIRC only one date (in August) is one the calendar as of yet. The recent gig was a bit of a disappointment in attendance terms due to confusion over whether it was a real Magma gig or not - it was, but a children performance of MDK the same day led to a misunderstanding on whether they were combining forces. But no, Magma played on their own - to a disappointingly small crowd.

[Dana5140]

Isabelle? I ask because Keiko Kifune has been posting pictures the past few days of her visiting with Zab, in and around some parts of France apparently and at Zab's home.

Only 2 shows are on their concert list- in August in Carhaiz and in December in Antibes.

I wonder how much longer they will go on.

[boilk]

I wonder how much longer they will go on.

Until Christian can't hold a drum stick anymore and Stella can't sing? They strike me as lifers.

Neil

[Conti]

Met a member of Magma by chance in a Parisian jazz club last night, so here’s some fresh news. There won't be a lot more live dates this year as their French promoter wants one big tour (at least as France goes) rather than isolated dates - the tour in question has been postponed twice and is now due to happen in March/April 2025. Beginning in October plans have been made to rehearse a newly composed piece by Vander (NOT from the archives this time) and the plan is to play a totally different set (old & new) on said tour. No new album is planned as yet - there will be no specific release to tie in with the tour. No plans to tour abroad were mentioned but that may have been an oversight in our conversation. IIRC only one date (in August) is one the calendar as of yet. The recent gig was a bit of a disappointment in attendance terms due to confusion over whether it was a real Magma gig or not - it was, but a children performance of MDK the same day led to a misunderstanding on whether they were combining forces. But no, Magma played on their own - to a disappointingly small crowd.

A new piece by Christian Vander is always good news. However, without many gigs in the near future the band loses momentum and is more prone to peter out, which is sad.

[Marco]

They strike me as beyond lifers – not hard to envision a Gong-like future where Magma is led by alumni.

(I would love that if Bubu were still in the band.)

[neuroticdog]

They strike me as beyond lifers – not hard to envision a Gong-like future where Magma is led by alumni.

(I would love that if Bubu were still in the band.)

hmmmm, for some reason I can't see this happening but not able to articulate at the moment

best
Michael

[neuroticdog]

They strike me as beyond lifers – not hard to envision a Gong-like future where Magma is led by alumni.

(I would love that if Bubu were still in the band.)

hmmmm, for some reason I can't see this happening but not able to articulate at the moment

(and I don't even know how I would feel about it)

best
Michael