Joachim Kuhn   Sound of Feelings LP BYG Actuel 17  

BYG Record 529.317, original 1969 pressing – not a reissue  

VG+ gatefold cover w light wear and 1.5" split seam middle bottom / EX vinyl

Although not a free jazz musician, per se, Kuhn has been an avant-gardist; he began attempting a fusion of contemporary classical elements with jazz very early in his career. Kuhn's intense virtuosity is a reflection of his training. He studied classical composition and piano for 12 years, beginning when he was a small child. He performed as a classical pianist up until 1961, at which point he began playing in a Prague-based jazz quintet. He led a trio from 1962-1966, and in 1964 began playing with his much-older brother Rolf Kuhn, an accomplished clarinetist. In the '70s, Joachim Kuhn led his own groups, and played with the violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. Kuhn had a measure of commercial success in the '70s. His star faded a bit in the '80s, but Kuhn kept active, playing challenging forms of jazz and recording occasionally. A 1997 release, Colors: Live From Leipzig, a duo with Ornette Coleman, helped fuel new interest in Kuhn; both men were in top form and the album received excellent reviews.

– All Music Guide

From Wikipedia: BYG Actuel was a French record label specialising in free jazz. It was founded in March 1967 by Jean Georgakarakos (usually known as "Karakos"), Jean-Luc Young and, initially, Fernand Boruso, the name of the label coming from the initial letters of the three founders' surnames. Karakos had previously established himself as a successful record distributor and importer; Young worked for Barclay Records, and Boruso for Saravah, the record label formed by filmmaker Claude Lelouch.
  
  The label was notable for inviting a large number of 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. (Jazz photographer Jacques Bisceglia was largely responsible for connecting the label and musicians - which also accounts for the common misconception that the "B" in BYG stands for Bisceglia, which it doesn't.) The resulting albums are an important repository of free jazz recordings from the period. Some of the musicians who made the trip to record were Anthony Braxton, Don Cherry, Sunny Murray, Archie Shepp, Alan Silva and Dave Burrell.
  
  The label also released a small number of non-jazz recordings by artists such as Musica Elettronica Viva and Gong. BYG was also responsible for organising the Actuel festival, which took place in late October 1969 in the little Belgian town of Amougies, near the French border (initially it was intended to take place in or near Paris but was banned by the French authorities), bringing together the leading exponents of both free jazz and progressive pop music (e.g. Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Soft Machine, Ten Years After, Yes, The Nice, etc.). The festival was a success, with ca. 20,000 in attendance over five nights, but still lost money. In July 1970, Karakos organised the Popanalia festival at Biot on the French Riviera, but this proved a financial disaster. By 1972, financial problems had plagued BYG to the point where it virtually went underground. Karakos and Young later resurfaced running their respective labels Celluloid and Charly.
  
  In 2002, a compilation album, JazzActuel: a collection of avant garde/free jazz/psychedelia from the BYG/Actuel catalogue of 1969–1971, was released by Charly Records (as a 3CD set) and Get Back Records of Italy (as a 6LP set). The collection was curated by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and journalist Byron Coley.

You can find a BYG Actuel discography here. Check my other auctions this week for more original jazz, rock and avant LPs.

Please read: items are visually and honestly graded. BYG Actuel LPs, while rare and very collectible, are not noted for being superior pressings and are sold on an as is basis. By bidding you agree to these terms.

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