Fusion -

Fusion was a French jazz-rock supergroup comprised of core Magma personnel Christian Vander, Benoît Widemann, Didier Lockwood, and Jannick Top. In 1981, they released the album Fusion on JMS. Their earlier live set constitutes the Utopic archival disc Paris 80.

Members: Didier Lockwood (violin), Jannick Top (bass), Christian Vander (drums), Benoît Widemann (Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, electronics)

Background

Fusion formed in autumn 1980 in Paris when drummer Christian Vander teamed with bassist Jannick Top, violinist Didier Lockwood, and keyboardist Benoît Widemann. Jean-Marie Salhani, founder of the French jazz label JMS, proposed the quartet. The four musicians shared leadership of the group.

Vander grew up among jazz musicians introduced by his mother and received his first drum kit from trumpeter Chet Baker. He formed the Wurdalaks in 1966 and later played jazz and rhythm-and-blues clubs in Italy. In 1969, he founded Magma.

Top studied piano and cello in Marseille and took orchestral-conducting lessons from André Lhéry. He switched to electric bass when a friend asked him to substitute in a local orchestra. In 1971, he formed Troc with drummer André Ceccarelli. Vander heard the group at a Paris club in 1972; Top joined Magma in 1973 for Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh.

Lockwood studied violin at the Calais conservatory where his father taught, then continued at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. He recorded the 1974 album Visitors with producer Jean-Pierre Massiera and his pianist brother Francis Lockwood. That autumn, Vander recruited the Lockwoods for Magma, where Didier stayed for the 1975 double album Magma Live, performed at the Taverne de l’Olympia.

Widemann grew up in Paris and studied piano from age five at the Martenot art school. He improvised with Lockwood, who noted the piano vacancy in Magma. Widemann joined for the June 1975 Taverne de l’Olympia concerts.

Top led the eighteen-member Utopic Sporadic Orchestra in October 1975 at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations festival with Vander and Lockwood. The ensemble performed “De Futura,” which Top later recorded with Magma for Üdü Ẁüdü. Lockwood joined Zao in September 1976 and recorded Kawana with pianist François “Faton” Cahen and saxophonist Yochk’o Seffer. He joined Vander and Top on the autumn 1976 Vandertop tour, which included concerts at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris. Lockwood left Zao to form Surya with drummer Jean-My Truong.

Vander established Alien in 1979 with bassist Dominique Bertram and keyboardists Patrick Gauthier, Jean-Pierre Fouquey, and Widemann. The group played from autumn 1979 at the Riverbop, a Paris jazz club run by Jacqueline Ferrari. Salhani managed Lockwood from 1979 and published his music through JMS.

Fusion played at the Riverbop on December 13, 1980, with a program that included “Fast Travel” by Lockwood and “Going Back Home” by keyboardist Jan Hammer. The quartet also performed “Fred” by guitarist Allan Holdsworth and two Top pieces, “767 ZX” and “GHK Go to Miles.” In August 1981, Fusion entered Acousti Studio in Paris to record a debut album for JMS.

Discography:

Fusion (1981)
Paris 80 (2001, recorded 1980)

References and notes

Fusion — Paris 1980 — Utopic liner notes identify the autumn 1980 formation, Jean-Marie Salhani’s proposal, collective leadership, and the Alien–Riverbop connection. Credits date the concert to December 13, 1980. (Jannick Top / Bandcamp)
Christian Vander — Official biography covers the first drum kit, Wurdalaks, Italian club activity, Magma formation, and the musicians involved in Alien. (Seventh Records)
Jannick Top — Biographie — Official account of classical studies, the switch to electric bass, Troc formation, the encounter with Vander, and Vandertop. (Jannick Top)
Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh — Label credits and recording history confirm Top in the new 1973 Magma lineup. (Seventh Records)
Entretien avec Didier Lockwood, Paris, 11 mai 2016 — Firsthand account of the father’s violin lessons at the Calais conservatory and Lockwood’s studies at the École Normale de Musique. (Epistrophy)
Dans l’antre du dieu Vander : Didier Lockwood et Magma — Philippe Gonin reconstructs the late-1974 audition chronology and traces Visitors, the 1975 concerts, Utopic Sporadic Orchestra, Zao, Vandertop, and Surya. (Epistrophy)
Benoit Widemann Interview — May 25, 2020 interview covers childhood lessons, the party encounter with Lockwood, the December 1974 Magma recruitment, and later collaboration with Vander in Alien and Fusion. (It’s Psychedelic Baby!)
Utopic Sporadic Orchestra — Nancy 1975 — Official notes describe the eighteen-member ensemble and October 1975 performance of “De Futura”; personnel credits include Vander and Lockwood. (Jannick Top / Bandcamp)
Les Utopies sporadiques de Jannick Top — Stéphane Fougère’s June 2002 article supplies the Vandertop tour chronology and identifies the Hammer and Holdsworth pieces in Fusion’s concert repertoire. (Rythmes Croisés)
Spéciale Didier Lockwood — Radio France program with Salhani identifies his manager and publisher relationship with Lockwood from 1979. (FIP / Radio France)
Lockwood–Top–Vander–Widemann — Fusion — Transcription of the JMS 015-2 credits gives Acousti Studio, Paris, August 1981, with Jean-Bernard Plé and Benoît Widemann. (幻の猫たち改訂版)