Magma -

Magma are a French chamber-rock/zeuhl band from Paris, formed in 1969 by drummer and keyboardist Christian Vander. During the 1970s, the band released six proper studio albums and a live disc on the Philips, Vertigo, Utopia, and Eurodisc labels.

Members: Christian Vander (drums, vocals, piano, electric piano), Laurent Thibault (electric bass, 1969), Francis Moze (electric bass, string bass, keyboards, 1969-72, 1980, 1984-85), Zabu (vocals, 1969), Jean-Jacques Ferry (guitar, 1969), Erik Goger (guitar, 1969), René Garber (bass clarinet, vocals, 1969, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1980-82, 1983-84), Claude Engel (guitar, flute, vocals, 1969-71, 1980), Eddie Rabin (keyboards, 1969), Guy Marco (trumpet, 1969), René Morizur (saxophone, 1969), Klaus Blasquiz (vocals, percussion, 1969-78, 1980, 1990, 1992), François Faton Cahen (piano, electric piano, 1969-72, 1980), Paco Charlery (trumpet, percussion, 1969), Richard Raux (saxophone, flute, 1969, 1980-81), Jacques Vidal (string bass, 1969), Teddy Lasry (saxophone, flute, 1969-72, 1980), Yochk’o Seffer (saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, 1970-72, 1980), Louis Toesca (trumpet, 1971-72, 1980), Jean-Luc Manderlier (piano, organ, 1972-73), Daniel Denis (drums, 1972), Jean-Pierre Lembert (bass, 1972-73), Michel Graillier (piano, keyboards, 1972, 1973-74, 1982-83), Gérard Bikialo (piano, keyboards, 1972-74), Marc Fosset (guitar, 1972), Stella Vander (vocals, 1972-76, 1977-present), Jannick Top (bass, 1973-74, 1980-81), Claude Olmos (guitar, 1973-74), Bernard Paganotti (bass, 1975-76, 1980), Jean-Paul Asseline (keyboards, 1975, 1976), Benoît Widemann (keyboards, 1975-77, 1979-81), Gabriel Federow (guitar, 1975-76, 1980), Didier Lockwood (violin, 1975-76, 1979-81, 1992), Patrick Gauthier (keyboards, 1975-76, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1992), Clément Bailly (drums, keyboards, 1976-77), Guy Delacroix (bass, 1976-78, 1984-85), Jean de Antoni (1976-77, 1979), Florence Bertaux (vocals 1976), Lisa Deluxe (vocals, 1977, 1978-85), Jean-Pierre Fouquey (keyboards, 1977, 1980-85), Jean-Luc Chevalier (guitar, bass, 1978-79, 1980-83, 1984-85), André Hervé (keyboards, 1978-79), Michel Hervé (bass, 1978-80), Maria Popkiewicz (vocals, 1978-82), Jean-Michel Kajdan (guitar, 1979-81), Dominique Bertram (bass, 1979-84), Guy Khalifa (vocals, 1980-81, 1982-85), François Laizeau (percussion, drums, 1980-81, 1982, 1983-84), Marc Éliard (bass, 1980-83, 1990), Arrigo Lorenzi (winds, 1980-82), Alain Guillard (horns, winds, 1980-82), Yvon Guillard (horns, 1980-82), Claire Laborde (vocals, 1980), François Kokelaere (percussion, 1981-83), Simon Goubert (keyboards, 1982-85, 1992-96), Christian Martinez (trumpet, 1982-83, 1983-84), Denis Leloup (trombone, 1982, 1983-84), Freddy Hovsepian (trumpet, 1982, 1983-84), Michel Gaucher (saxophone, 1982, 1983-84), Sylvin Marc (bass, 1983), Pierre Moerlen (drums, 1983), Jean Marc Jafet (bass, 1983-85), Alex Ferrand (vocals, 1983-84, 1992-96), Steve Shehan (vocals, 1983-84), Claude Salmieri (drums, 1984-85), Michel Le Bars (drums, 1984-85), Pierre Marcault (percussion, 1984-85), Remy Sarrazin (bass, 1984-85), Frederic Briet (string bass, 1984-85)

Background

Magma formed in 1969 when ex-Cruciferius drummer Christian Vander teamed with singer Lucien Zabuski, bassist Francis Moze, and keyboardist/conductor Laurent Thibault. The three hailed from psych-rockers the Zorgones, which issued the single “Herr Doktor Reich” (b/w “Mon Velo Est Bleu”) that year on Mercury. At first, the group called itself Uniweria Zekt Magma Composedra Arguezdra before trimming the name to Magma. They initially featured clarinetist René Garber, who would return multiple times over the ensuing lustrum. Zabuski departed after their first tour.

During 1970, Magma grew into an octet with singer Klaus Blasquiz, pianist François Cahen, guitarist Claude Engel, trumpeter Alain “Paco” Charlery, and reedists Teddy Lasry and Richard Raux. Just prior to joining, Engel cut the album How to Kiss the Sky with psych-rockers Omega Plus. Teddy had appeared on albums as far back as 1960 with his musician parents Jacques and Yvonne Lasry.

Thibault stepped down from Magma to produce their first album, released in December 1970 on Philips.

Magma [Kobaïa]

Magma released their self-titled debut album in October 1970 on Philips.

1001° Centigrades

Magma released their second album, 1001° Centigrades, on October 5, 1971, on Philips.

Univeria Zekt – The Unnamables

Magma adopted the pseudonym Univeria Zekt for their third album, The Unnamables, released in January 1972 on Thélème.

Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh

Magma released their fourth album, Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh, on May 6, 1973, on Vertigo (France) and A&M (abroad).

Christian Vander – Tristan et Iseult [Ẁurdah Ïtah]

On June 15, 1974, Christian Vander released Tristan et Iseult, a soundrack to the namesake avant-garde French film. The album, recorded with select Magma personnel (Blasquiz, Stella, Top), appeared on Barclay. In 1989, Egg Records reissued the soundtrack as a Magma album with the title Ẁurdah Ïtah.