Bussonet is one of the greatest bassists working in rock (& related) today, at least here in Europe that I know of (although Ellen A. Wang is a bit prettier). Other than with Magma, his input with Francois Thollot (on Contact), One Shot, Guillaume Perret & The Electric Epic and BBI were all outstanding. This is a man with both chops and immense imprint of character to his playing; a complete monster.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
^ Yep.
Bubu is an idol of mine- those bass lines he plays are incredibly complex. What the hell happened? The MagmaOfficiel website no longer shows a picture of the band. Jesus, now what? Not completely tangential, has anyone heard how James MacGaw is doing? All of this just odd- I recently saw clips of Rudy Blas's own band as well. It is all shattering.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
Well, judging from their latest album, Magma do not really need a bass player <ducking>
Usually when bandleaders gets older, they pick musicians who can learn and play their ideas fast and effortless, rather than musicians who contributes with personal ideas, styles, tracks.
But seeing them in Oslo, I don't get why Bussonet or the keyboardplayer has to go.
Is Magma going in a new direction, or is it a disagreement over something - as seen before in Magmas past.
There was very palpable tension at their September gig at Le Triton, after which I was told that Bussonnet wouldn’t last much longer - but I assumed this to mean he would jump, not be pushed out.
As I understand it, the sacking was not Vander’s decision. The tensions were elsewhere. Some FB posts following the Philharmonie concert in June had made me worried about the state of relationships between members of the team on and off stage.
At that september gig at Le Triton (a slightly substandard performance, something felt "off"), I noticed that Bubu was taking more liberties than usual with the bass parts. But I was unaware of any personal tensions.
The apex of that band was at the Juan-les-Pins concert in the summer. The short excerpt broadcast on RTL has a certain "otherness" to it, Alziary beautifully going off on a tangent.
Last edited by unclemeat; 12-20-2019 at 11:56 AM.
I'm assuming Vander saw the thread here about which band has had the most members and decided to act accordingly.
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
WowOriginally Posted by calyx
Thats a surprise
I thought this kind of decision must be his and his only
The cover photo of Magma's Facebook page was just updated to list the following names:
Christian Vander
Stella Vander
Hervé Aknin
Isabelle Feuillebois
Rudy Blas
Francis Linon
Simon Goubert
Thierry Eliez
Jimmy Top
Sandrine Destefanis
Sylvie Fisichella
Laura Guarrato
Actually, not, Udi. I can read very well into Calyx's comments. I think I understand what he is saying. I could have it wrong, but I do not think I do. This'll probably have nothing to do with Herve or Rudy, as I read it. And if not Christian, who is left- just Stella, Isabelle and Francis Linon.
Truth is, I thought CV and Phillipe were very close.
And all I am doing is speculating. I think I can figure this out, for what it is worth, but doing so changes nothing.
ETA: Holy hell- did you see the scar Isabelle has now on her neck? I treat neck pain- that scar indicates she had a really bad likely disc prolapse.
Last edited by Dana5140; 12-20-2019 at 10:36 AM.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
Looking forward to that Van Halen cover.
Haha, was thinking exactly that… Top Jimmy going Zeuhl
Played backwards?
It will be secretly hidden in a new trilogy, you will have to tape every 7th second to get it in full.
The hiring of Goubert and the listing of the extra singers as full time members makes me wonder if the plan isn’t to switch into full "promoting Zess" mode ? Benoit didn’t play on it, even at the Phiharmonie, and Jerome only played orchestral keys. Goubert played the piano but I have a feeling they’ll be using his considerable skills as drummer to play Zess without Morgan Ågren.
Last edited by calyx; 12-20-2019 at 12:39 PM.
And here's Jimmy...
https://www.facebook.com/elephant.to...9506258852511/
Last edited by unclemeat; 12-20-2019 at 12:53 PM.
Just saw this on their facebook page. Man, I am going to miss Phillippe, especially. But the vibes and keyboardist seemed awesome too.
Magma new.jpg
neil
From Jérome Martineau-Ricotti on fb : "On November 4, 2019, after the last concert of the year in Oslo, to close the Scandinavian tour (a very good concert series, by the way), a meeting was convened. Astonishment in the band, because it was not really the kind of things Magma does. To the point that it was strange (and even suspicious). The sentence was unequivocal : “There will be changes and therefore departures. Are affected by departures : Bubu, Benoit and Jérome." Stupor ! No single explanation at the time (nor a thank you) and no more today..."
If what Jerome says is true, they let all three know they were fired in a meeting with the entire band? Without warning? Whoa.
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
This is horrible. Bubu is Magma’s best bass player, bar none. There’s no reason why such a decision should have heen made without giving these guys previous notice. I won’t be giving any of my money to Magma anymore.
It sounds completely horrible but , as always, there are two sides to every story. We've only heared one side now.
But did Bussonet (and the other 2) leave or did he get fired? And why?
Like many bands these days, Magma is a business, and a living especially for the owner: CV
Many have been fired or left before. If CV still has it, Magma will rise & shine again.
I hope Bussonet finds a band soon, so we can hear him again! That also goes for Jérome, I liked his more improvisng style a lot!
6450E42B-7D55-43EF-BBCC-639196B0558A.jpg
CV has issued an official statement thru their instagram account
BAD internet type translation:
after the many comments following the announcement of the formation of magma, an update seems necessary to me.
magma is my group and i led it for 50 years.
the reasons of the changes announced recently are both human and musical.
contrary to what you may have read, i have said to each of the three musicians concerned why we séparions musically, without going into details in order not to dirty a beautiful story. i thanked them for their commitment throughout these years, they have thanked me also for having shared these moments.
i have several times been confronted with the departure of the musicians, sometimes from one day to the next day.
they have however, not been censured in the public square.
i have not taken this decision lightly, nor gaiety of heart, but my only goal is to evolve the music and live calmly, without tension or antagonism.
the best of magma is still to come.
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"the masses have spoken, and this has appropriately vanished into the great Prog boner pile in the sky."
“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
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