Biography
Ghédalia Tazartès, an experimental musician from France, shaped an elusive creative identity he labeled impromuz. By slicing and reassembling magnetic tape in ways that paralleled both musique concrète practices and techniques from underground cinema, he assembled dense, fluid sonic environments, capturing lengthy improvised performances and then distilling their strongest passages into singular recordings. Though he handled accordion, Tibetan bowls, flutes, and percussion with skill, Tazartès treated the voice as his central tool, employing a ritualistic vocal method that moved instantly among throat singing, abrasive punk outbursts, declaimed verse, and mixtures of genuine and fabricated dialects. After introducing himself with the landmark Diasporas in 1979, he issued and performed only intermittently through the 1980s and 1990s, supporting himself by composing for cinema and theater. A return to the concert stage in 2004 ushered in a sustained period of productivity that continued until his death, encompassing both solo releases such as the 2009 album Repas Froid and partnerships with Jac Berrocal, David Fenech, Chris Corsano, and numerous further collaborators.
Born Gérard in Paris in 1947 to parents of Judeo-Spanish lineage with Greek roots, Tazartès stayed in the city throughout his life and became known for occupying the same apartment from the late 1960s onward. He first explored tape-based pieces centered on the voice and scored dance works before assembling the patchwork recordings that formed his initial albums. Cobalt issued Diasporas in 1979, after which Tazartès' Transports, with its near-industrial character, appeared in 1980. Inclusion on the Nurse with Wound List—an insert packaged with the British experimental ensemble’s earliest records that named hundreds of little-known influences—helped introduce Tazartès to collectors. Celluloid released the 1984 album Une éclipse totale de soleil, whose two extended side-long pieces combined voices with occasional rhythmic elements. By the close of the decade Ayaa had put out Tazartès and Check Point Charlie, both of which drew rhythmic inspiration from Indian and African sources yet resisted classification.
Tazartès supplied scores for the films Le petit chat est mort (1992) and Ivan & Abraham (1993). Beginning in 1996 Alga Marghen reissued his early catalog on CD for the first time, while Demosaurus brought out his sixth album, Voyage à l'ombre, in 1997. Live appearances resumed in 2004, initially involving other players before shifting to solo tours. The mini CDs 5 Rimbaud 1 Verlaine and Les danseurs de la pluie both surfaced in 2006, followed in 2007 by the full-lengths Jeanne and Hystérie off Music. Tanzprocess issued Repas Froid in 2009, with a vinyl edition arriving on Pan two years later. Working alongside El-G and Jo Tanz in the group Reines d'Angleterre, Tazartès released the debut LP Les Comores on Bo'Weavil Recordings in 2010; that same year Hinterzimmer issued the solo album Ante-Mortem. Vinyl-on-Demand presented the box set Works 1977-79 in 2011, while Alga Marghen released the short archival LP Granny Awards; additionally, Belgian label Sub Rosa issued the collaboration Superdisque with Jac Berrocal and David Fenech.
Von brought out Coda Lunga—an LP and DVD drawn from travels in India—in 2012, after which Tazartès began performing a solo program based on that material. Reines d'Angleterre’s second album, Globe et Dynastie, appeared the same year. Planam released Alpes, a joint effort with the experimental ensemble GOL, in 2013. The solo album La. came out on the Norwegian imprint dBUT interambience in 2014. Holidays Records issued the single-sided LP Il regalo della Befana in early 2015, and Bisou followed later that year with La bar mitzvah du chien, which featured the voice of Tazartès’ son Lalo Tazartès. Ultra Eczema released Vooruit 17.05.2015, a live improvisation with Chris Corsano and Dennis Tyfus, in 2016; at year’s end Monotype Records issued Carp's Head, a collaboration with Paweł Romańczuk and Andrzej Załęski. Holotype Editions put out Schulevy Maker, documenting a 2013 Cafe Oto concert with Maya Dunietz, in 2017. Tazartès appeared with Rhys Chatham in Paris in 2018 and also performed alongside saxophonist Quentin Rollet and analog synth player Jérôme Lorichon. He contributed vocals to several tracks on Emmanuelle Parrenin and Detlef Weinrich’s album Jours de Grève, released by Versatile Records in early 2021. Tazartès died of cancer on February 9, 2021, at age 73. Shortly afterward, Quoi qu'il en soit—a book of photographs taken in the artist’s apartment accompanied by a CD of his set with Rollet and Lorichon—was issued. In 2022 Bisou Records released Gospel et le râteau, an album of previously unreleased pieces completed before his death.
Born Gérard in Paris in 1947 to parents of Judeo-Spanish lineage with Greek roots, Tazartès stayed in the city throughout his life and became known for occupying the same apartment from the late 1960s onward. He first explored tape-based pieces centered on the voice and scored dance works before assembling the patchwork recordings that formed his initial albums. Cobalt issued Diasporas in 1979, after which Tazartès' Transports, with its near-industrial character, appeared in 1980. Inclusion on the Nurse with Wound List—an insert packaged with the British experimental ensemble’s earliest records that named hundreds of little-known influences—helped introduce Tazartès to collectors. Celluloid released the 1984 album Une éclipse totale de soleil, whose two extended side-long pieces combined voices with occasional rhythmic elements. By the close of the decade Ayaa had put out Tazartès and Check Point Charlie, both of which drew rhythmic inspiration from Indian and African sources yet resisted classification.
Tazartès supplied scores for the films Le petit chat est mort (1992) and Ivan & Abraham (1993). Beginning in 1996 Alga Marghen reissued his early catalog on CD for the first time, while Demosaurus brought out his sixth album, Voyage à l'ombre, in 1997. Live appearances resumed in 2004, initially involving other players before shifting to solo tours. The mini CDs 5 Rimbaud 1 Verlaine and Les danseurs de la pluie both surfaced in 2006, followed in 2007 by the full-lengths Jeanne and Hystérie off Music. Tanzprocess issued Repas Froid in 2009, with a vinyl edition arriving on Pan two years later. Working alongside El-G and Jo Tanz in the group Reines d'Angleterre, Tazartès released the debut LP Les Comores on Bo'Weavil Recordings in 2010; that same year Hinterzimmer issued the solo album Ante-Mortem. Vinyl-on-Demand presented the box set Works 1977-79 in 2011, while Alga Marghen released the short archival LP Granny Awards; additionally, Belgian label Sub Rosa issued the collaboration Superdisque with Jac Berrocal and David Fenech.
Von brought out Coda Lunga—an LP and DVD drawn from travels in India—in 2012, after which Tazartès began performing a solo program based on that material. Reines d'Angleterre’s second album, Globe et Dynastie, appeared the same year. Planam released Alpes, a joint effort with the experimental ensemble GOL, in 2013. The solo album La. came out on the Norwegian imprint dBUT interambience in 2014. Holidays Records issued the single-sided LP Il regalo della Befana in early 2015, and Bisou followed later that year with La bar mitzvah du chien, which featured the voice of Tazartès’ son Lalo Tazartès. Ultra Eczema released Vooruit 17.05.2015, a live improvisation with Chris Corsano and Dennis Tyfus, in 2016; at year’s end Monotype Records issued Carp's Head, a collaboration with Paweł Romańczuk and Andrzej Załęski. Holotype Editions put out Schulevy Maker, documenting a 2013 Cafe Oto concert with Maya Dunietz, in 2017. Tazartès appeared with Rhys Chatham in Paris in 2018 and also performed alongside saxophonist Quentin Rollet and analog synth player Jérôme Lorichon. He contributed vocals to several tracks on Emmanuelle Parrenin and Detlef Weinrich’s album Jours de Grève, released by Versatile Records in early 2021. Tazartès died of cancer on February 9, 2021, at age 73. Shortly afterward, Quoi qu'il en soit—a book of photographs taken in the artist’s apartment accompanied by a CD of his set with Rollet and Lorichon—was issued. In 2022 Bisou Records released Gospel et le râteau, an album of previously unreleased pieces completed before his death.
Albums
