Magma Live

Recorded in June at the La Taverne de l'Olympia in Paris, the magnificent double-album Live (later known as Hhaï/Live) is perhaps Magma's most exemplary statement. The lineup had toured the UK earlier in the year: joining Christian and Stella Vander and Klaus Blasquiz were violinist Didier Lockwood and keyboardist Benoît Widemann, with bassist Bernard Paganotti replacing Jannick Top; guitarist Gabriel Fédérow and pianist Jean-Pol Asseline rounded out the stage. Obviously, the lineup induces a new sonority with far less vocal hysteria; and the renditions of "Köhntark" (actually "Köhntarkösz") and "Mëkanïk Zaïn" (from "MDK") definitely benefit from it. Lockwood is an excellent instrumentalist, while Paganotti's bass work is as tremendous as Top's. But even more interesting are the tracks on side three: "Kobah" rides one of the grooviest of grooves the band would offer, and even affords guitarist Fédérow a chance to make his mark. Presenting a gentle melody, the dreamy "Lïhns" is a soft yet overt display of beauty. "Hhaï" slowly unfolds, with Vander offering a mellifluous vocal before erupting into excellent, melodic jazz fusion, with Widemann and Asseline's keyboards to the fore. This album-side is Magma at its most accessible; unless, of course, you happen to favor the Wagnerian approach. The album saw release on the Utopia imprint but was distributed by RCA Records. Patrick Gauthier replaced Asseline in the fall; but true to form, the band split up in 1976. As Vander set about to create a new lineup for Magma, he also found time to tour with bassist Top, as the cleverly-named VanderTop.