Benoît Widemann -

Benoît Widemann (born 1957) is a French pianist and composer who emerged at age 18 in a mid-1970s lineup of Magma, serving two stints with the band between 1975 and 1981. Under his own name, he released two albums between 1977 and 1979 on Ballon Noir, followed by a third title in 1984 on CY Records. In 1981, he grouped with several Magma moonlighters in the jazz-rock supergroup Fusion for a studio album and live disc.

Background

Benoît Widemann was born in 1957 and grew up in Paris. His mother, Francette Lazard, taught history and geography before her work in the French Communist Party, and his father, François Widemann, worked as a physicist. The family listened to classical and baroque repertory at home. At age five, he began music study at the École d’Art Martenot, where lessons stressed play, invention, and improvisation. In childhood, he used the piano to work out chord movement across the keyboard.

Widemann joined Magma in December 1974 after a party jam with violinist Didier Lockwood, who told him the group needed a pianist. Lockwood linked him to the opening, and Widemann entered the band at age seventeen. His first recorded work with Magma came on Live/Hhaï, cut at the Taverne de l’Olympia in Paris during the June 1–5, 1975 residency. He remained with Christian Vander through the mid-Seventies studio cycle, with keyboards and synthesizer programming on Üdü Ẁüdü and Attahk.

Dan Ar Braz brought Widemann into a parallel recording line on the 1977 album Douar Nevez. Producer Hugues de Courson heard him during those sessions and offered him a solo-album date for Ballon Noir. Widemann recorded Stress! at Studio Acousti in Paris during summer 1977 with producer de Courson and engineer Bruno Menny. He completed the album on acoustic piano, Fender piano, Moog, and Oberheim, with drummer Clément Bailly, bassist Guy Delacroix, keyboardists Patrick Gauthier and Jean-Pierre Fouquey, guitarist Patrice Tison, and singers Emmanuelle Parrenin and de Courson.

Stress!

Benoît Widemann released his debut album, Stress!, in October 1977 on Ballon Noir.

The album presents keyboard-led jazz-rock and synthesizer pieces, performed by Widemann with drummer/percussionist Clément Bailly and bassist Guy Delacroix. The sessions add keyboardists Patrick Gauthier and Jean-Pierre Fouquey, guitarist Patrice Tison, Bruno Menny on Rythmus System, and singers Emmanuelle Parrenin and Hugues de Courson. Widemann wrote eight of ten pieces; Bailly wrote “Balèze,” and Delacroix wrote “Le Camp du Drap d’Or.”

Stress! builds much of its surface from acoustic piano, Fender piano, Moog, and Oberheim parts, with several pieces held inside a keyboard-only frame. “Balèze” charges through a fiery beat, crowded Moog pings, and quick synth crossfire. “Herbes Sol” pulses through hypnotic electronic ambiences before piano enters the suspended field. “Stress!” washes electric-piano figures through short-form brightness and soft synth color. “Le Camp du Drap d’Or” supports its lead lines with deep bass pressure and upfront Moog tones. “Demi-Final” flickers through brief sound effects.

“Quaternaire” opens at an uptempo clip, then tightens around complex low-end motion and solo turns. “Spirale” thickens from haunting piano and male wordless voices into a fuller rhythm-section entry. “Fête au Septième Plan – Sacrifice” moves from obscure synth atmosphere and distorted guitar lines toward a cosmic electronic close. “Final” dissolves into a divided, piano-led ending.

A1. “Balèze” [Tough] (3:24) – Bailly
A2. “Herbes Sol” [Ground Grasses] (6:50) – Widemann
A3. “Stress!” (1:55) – Widemann
A4. “Le Camp du Drap d’Or” [The Field of the Cloth of Gold] (4:02) – Delacroix
A5. “Demi-final” [Semi-Final] (1:20) – Widemann

B1. “Quaternaire” [Quaternary] (5:54) – Widemann
B2. “Spirale” (4:31) – Widemann
B3. “Fête au septième plan – Sacrifice” [Feast on the Seventh Plane] (5:04) – Widemann
B4. “Final: Part 1” (2:44) – Widemann
B5. “Final: Part 2” (2:20) – Widemann

Hugues de Courson produced the original Ballon Noir issue. Widemann recorded the album during summer 1977 at Studio Acousti in Paris with engineer/mixer Bruno Menny. Ballon Noir issued the album as BAL 13002.

François Allot illustrated the Stress! cover with a keyboard-bearing figure beside a massive curled wave inside a black field.

Tsunami

Benoît Widemann released his second album, Tsunami, in September 1979 on Ballon Noir.

The album presents ensemble jazz-rock with acoustic and electric keyboards, saxophones, bass, and percussion, performed by Widemann with keyboardist Jean-Pierre Fouquey, reedist Gilbert Dall’Anese, bassist Rémy Dall’Anese, and drummer/percussionist Jean-Paul Ceccarelli. André Ceccarelli adds percussion and a fire-extinguisher part on “Des Îles.” Georges Acogny contributes a natural-echo howl on “The Proud Mongol,” and Lionel Gély programs the Motorola kit on “Tsunami.”

“Des Îles” brightens through a buoyant pulse, steady accents, and reed-bright lead lines. “Cécile” darkens the record with a slow-turning keyboard phrase and suspended minor color. “The Proud Mongol” coils around fuzz-edged bass pressure, natural-echo howls, and low-register reed color. “Tsunami” churns through a motoric beat, Japanese-colored harmonies, and programmed electronic pulses.

A1. “Des Îles” [Of Islands] (7:39) – Widemann
A2. “Cécile” (6:19) – Widemann
A3. “Fifteen for Me!” (4:37) – Widemann

B1. “The Proud Mongol” (7:48) – Dall’Anese
B2. “Let’s Go, Kids of the Drum” (4:31) – Fouquey
B3. “Tsunami” (6:19) – Widemann

Widemann recorded and mixed Tsunami between March and May 1979 at Château d’Hérouville with Bruno Menny. Widemann produced the album with Le Château and Hugues de Courson. Ballon Noir issued the album as BAL 13014.

Katrin Schaub designed and painted the cover with a white-capped wave over a cartoon shore, where insects and palm trees share the sand with reclining beach figures.

3

Benoît Widemann released his numerical third album in 1984 on CY Records.

The album presents trio-based keyboard music with live piano, bass, and drums captured before synthesizer overdubs. Widemann performs with drummers Kirt Rust and François Laizeau, bassists Sylvin Marc and Dominique Bertram, and percussionist Gilles Perrin. Widemann wrote five of seven pieces; Marc wrote “Six pour trois,” and Jean-Pierre Fouquey wrote “Douceur céleste.”

“L’Île du Docteur Z” darts through taut piano figures and narrow analog lines. “Six pour trois” stretches the trio base with extra percussive accents and extended solo traffic. “Les Nocturnes” twists through polyrhythmic overlays and close interior motion. “Compromis historique” pivots from a stated theme into sharper lead traffic. “Risque calculé” snaps through compact ensemble phrases and dry accent turns. “Douceur céleste” glides through a softer piano-led line. “Entre les lignes” closes the original sequence with a brief electronic hinge. “The Seventh Sight,” added on the CD reissue, adds guitar to a denser late-ensemble charge.

A1. “L’Île du Docteur Z” [The Island of Doctor Z] (5:18) – Widemann
A2. “Six pour trois” [Six for Three] (7:49) – Marc
A3. “Les Nocturnes” [The Nocturnes] (5:28) – Widemann

B1. “Compromis historique” [Historic Compromise] (6:44) – Widemann
B2. “Risque calculé” [Calculated Risk] (4:22) – Widemann
B3. “Douceur céleste” [Heavenly Sweetness] (6:07) – Fouquey
B4. “Entre les lignes” [Between the Lines] (1:08) – Widemann

Widemann recorded 3 in 1982 at Studio Davout in Paris with engineer Jean-Bernard Plé. Widemann and Plé mixed the album, and Yves Chamberland produced the original CY Records issue. CY Records issued the album as 733614.

Fury created the cover art from modular-synth controls, patch leads, and layered black and primary-color shapes. A later CD added “The Seventh Sight” with guitarist Jean-Michel Kajdan.

Discography: