NEO Museum

NEO Museum was a French avant-jazz/rock combo that released the 1986 AYAA album Volume 1.

Members: Antoine Gindt (guitar), Alain Casari (clarinet, saxophone), Daniel Koskowitz (drums)

Background

NEO Museum formed in 1985 when guitarist Antoine Gindt, saxophonist Alain Casari, and drummer Daniel Koskowitz carried their Hellebore partnership into a new trio.

Gindt studied classical guitar for several years. He co-founded Hellebore with Koskowitz and bassist Jean Caël in 1978 in Nancy. Casari joined Hellebore on saxophone in 1982 as the fifth member. Gindt founded and directed the Musique Action festival from 1983 through 1986 at the Centre Culturel André Malraux in Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy.

Hellebore moved from early Nancy concerts into regular rehearsals and performances at the Centre Culturel André Malraux. The group recorded Il y a des jours there on a four-track TEAC machine in 1983, then chose Ayaa when a proposed Mnemonist edition encountered editing problems. Hellebore dissolved as the five members entered separate projects, and Gindt, Casari, and Koskowitz continued together as NEO Museum.

NEO Museum built pieces from collective improvisation and fixed selected figures into composed structures. The trio opened the forms to guest players and retained the Centre Culturel André Malraux as a working base. The musicians recorded there in February, November, and December 1985 on an eight-track system. The trio returned to the same studio in January 1986 for final mixes.

NEO Museum added sopranino saxophonist Pascal Sieger, tenor saxophonist Raoul Binot, trombonist Jacques Veillé, and reed player Jérôme Bourdellon (bass clarinet, bass flute) for selected tracks. The trio completed the sessions for Ayaa as Volume 1: Nouvelles Ethnologiques de l’Obscur Museum.

Discography:

• Volume 1 (1986)

References and notes

• Antoine Gindt and Denis Tagu interview, It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine, 2019: Gindt gives his classical-guitar background; identifies the 1978 Hellebore nucleus with Koskowitz and Jean Caël; dates Casari to 1982; places the musicians in Nancy; describes regular work at the Centre Culturel André Malraux; explains the four-track Il y a des jours sessions, the aborted Mnemonist edition, the Hellebore split, and the formation of NEO Museum. Most importantly, Gindt describes the new trio as a more concentrated project built around freer forms and collective improvisation, with recordings made in 1985–86 on the Centre Culturel eight-track system. (It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine)
• Daniel Koskowitz official chronology and discography: Koskowitz dates NEO Museum to 1985–1988 and lists the core trio as Alain Casari, Antoine Gindt, and Daniel Koskowitz. His discography gives Nouvelles Ethnologiques de l’Obscur Museum as Ayaa DT 0586 (1986) and also lists the 1986 Rencontres du 1er type cassette. (Daniel Koskowitz)
• Antoine Gindt official biography: Gindt identifies himself as founder and musical director of the Musique Action festival at Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy from 1983 through 1986, which explains his continuing institutional link with the Centre Culturel André Malraux. (Antoine gindt)
• Original-album session information reproduced by Central do Prog: the LP credits place the recordings in February, November, and December 1985 and the mix in January 1986 at the Centre Culturel André Malraux studio. The same credits identify Sieger, Binot, Veillé, and Bourdellon with their instruments and track appearances. I used this source for session chronology and guest personnel, not its erroneous 1985 release date. (Central do Prog)
• Ayaa issue corroboration: the surviving LP listing identifies the French pressing as Ayaa DT 0586, released in 1986, under the full title Volume 1. Nouvelles Ethnologiques de l’obscur Museum. (All Night Flight Records)