The Actuel imprint of BYG Records was important in documenting the avant-garde renaissance that blossomed in France in the late '60s. There were entries from rock bands and modern composers among the 50 or so records released on the label, but the brunt of the catalog was devoted to avant-garde and free jazz artists. They were sure to pay attention both to developments at home in France and to the large number of Americans who had descended on Europe as a matter of survival, given the aggressive disinterest that free jazz received on their home soil. This CD focuses on the jazz releases of BYG/Actuel, with selections from several of the major voices of free jazz in the late '60s. Pianists
Paul Bley,
Cecil Taylor, and
Sun Ra represent the old guard of the avant-garde here, all three having made their earliest statements in the late '50s. Saxophonist
Archie Shepp and trumpeter
Don Cherry bloomed in the mid-'60s, and
the Art Ensemble of Chicago and saxman
Dewey Redman round out the survey as artists who were active in the U.S., but really came into their own in Europe on BYG/Actuel. It would be nice to see a companion volume giving their French counterparts their due as well, but as an introduction to some of the most white-hot fire music that ever burned,
Jazzactuel holds the light well.