NEFFESH MUSIC: DÉLIRE

It is a minor tragedy (which could be easily rectified) that Yochk'o Seffer's Neffesh-Music albums from the late 70s have not been re-released in a coherent form. Unless you're ready to spend huge amounts of time and money tracking down and buying the now rare LP releases, it's really only the third album "Ghilgoul" that's available. On CD, the tracks "Heart", "Jonetsu for Judith" and "Delire" are found on the Musea compilation "My Old Roots", and "Orkana" is on the compilation "Noce Chimique" as well as the release called only "Neffesh Music" from Moshé-Naim. As far as I've been able to ascertain, the tracks "Streledzia" and "Ima (1ere partie)" have not been released on CD, although the latter appears to be the introduction to the 20-minute piece "Ima" which covered the whole A-side of the next album, "Ima".

Anyway, the first of the Neffesh albums is a little different from the two next ones, in that it features no bass guitar and also very little drums (only "Heart" and "Orkana" feature drumming by Zao bandmate Truong). For this reason there is much less of the jazz fusion feel which is so prominent at times on "Ghilgoul", and the Univers Zero-style chamber rock is a closer reference. It is arguably the least Zeuhl-like of the three for this reason.

Opener "Heart" is a stand-out track. It sets out boldly with a staccato figure performed by drums, strings and piano. Much precipitous string work follows before an almost anthem-like melody sets in with piano and tenor sax in unison, later also overdubbed with Seffer's otherworldly falsetto singing. This bit reminds me strongly of VdGG's "Killer", but it doesn't last. Instead the music suddenly sets off in a different tempo, and a solo duel occurs between Seffer on tenor sax and Seffer on mini-moog, accompanied by drums and...yup Seffer on piano. All of a sudden Stravinsky is nowhere in sight, and we're in free jazz land.

"Jonetsu for Judith" opens with jazz chords and tenor sax, and if it weren't for the mini-moog bass you'd be forgiven for thinking we're in more standard modern jazz for a little while. Seffer really gets to show his absolutely improbable technical ability on the saxophone here, a true son of Coltrane in style and texture. The string quartet is reduced to playing chords here. The result is a kind of eerie and somewhat unsettling landscape which is such a trademark of Seffer's more recent work (not least the "String Orchestra" album), and it really works well here because it's only the single track. In the last minute of the track, the music suddenly builds over a pretty groovy cello and mini-moog bass figure with some cymbals, and I'm thinking "wow, this is getting cool", but then the song is suddenly over just when things were really picking up. Pity.

"Orkana" is another highlight, featuring prominent mini-moog contrasting the rigid and claustrophobic piano chords. After several radical tempo changes the piece ends with an out-of-control mini-moog solo over frenetic drumming, presumably illustrating the song's title.

The short track "Streledzia" -- named after the bird of paradise flower -- I really enjoy. It's a light and beautiful piece led by a soaring melody on sopranino sax with string section and what sounds like bass sax beneath (which is funny, since only "tenor sax", of which there is no sign, is stated on the LP cover). "Bird of paradise" (without the flower) might have been a better title, because I can very much imagine the bird's dance to this music. The piece is interesting because it's structure is sort of inverted: it starts with strings and two saxes, and then the instruments fall off one by one, leaving the sopranino pretty much alone for the last minute. Normally you'd build it up, rather than take apart, but Seffer's not one to care for conventions.

The title track "Deliré" presumably tries to communicate a sense of delirium, and does so effectively. This piece is pretty inaccessible and very, very dense, with very close string quartet chords set against Seffer alternating between tenor sax and piano, occasionally overdubbed with his distinctive high-pitched vocals doubling the melodic themes. If you're a fan of Shostakovitch and free jazz you will enjoy "Deliré", although in honesty this track could be too much even for many hardy listeners. To be honest, I personally enjoy this track the least. Might be something for the most ardent RIO fans out there, and it's certainly unique.

Only a little bit of "Ima" is included here, as a taster for the upcoming album by that title (the LP cover states as much). It is a unique piece and very ethereal, notable for introducing (for the first time?) Seffer's self-made "sonic sculptures", twisted and wierd looking pipeworks with a saxophone mouthpiece attached (I think) which make very odd sounds indeed. No less than 4 bass clarinette tracks have been added as well, and Seffer's vocals multitracked into a ghostly choir. "Eerie" doesn't begin to do this justice. On top of all this runs a loooong tenor sax solo. Absolutely amazing, or possibly absolutely unlistenable, you decide.

In all a superb album, although not quite reaching the soaring heights of "Ghilgoul" or side B of "Ima" quite as consistently.

It's a little easier to piece together Yochk'o Seffer's early work with streaming services now available. Sadly though on Spotify I've only tracked down four of six tracks on this album, but at least its the four longest ones.

Seffer didn't quite leave Zao behind here, the excellent drumming of JM Truong is present, although a lot more minimal than in Zao and only on a couple of tracks. There's also no bass guitar, and much of the album does just feel like a jamming session for Seffer on his sax - it is essentially a solo album after all.

Heart is mostly a free jazz number, with Seffer competing with himself - sax vs moog, and Truong just setting the pace on drums. Its not bad, but doesn't really go anywhere. Jonetsu for Judith is a much better example of Seffer's real technical ability on all instruments, and the jarring piano chords do give you a hint of the Zeuhl influence still being there. A background of string rather than drums adds to the eerie nature of this track which is probably my favourite. Orkana is back to the chaotic jamming session but this time mainly moog over Truong's drumming. Unfortunately I haven't been able to listen to Streledzia or Ima, but Delire, a lengthy 13 minute track is another jarring chaotic jam in the first half, with a minimal string piece in the second. Not much going on for me.

If you like jazz jamming dive in, if you like technical saxophone with a hint of Zeuhl listen to Jonetsu for Judith. And yes, admittedly two short tracks I have no access to. But still, didn't hear much to consider it essential.

Born in Miskolc, Hungary in 1939, YOCHK'O SEFFER escaped the clutches of communism when he was 17 and moved to France where he studied reeds, piano and composition at the Conservatoire de Paris under the tutelage of many 20th century greats including Olivier Messiaen. SEFFER quickly gravitated towards the wilder side of jazz first performing with avant-garde jazzist Mal Waldron and then playing with countless others including Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders and Steve Lacy just to name a few. After playing saxophone throughout the 60s with some of the greatest jazz players of the era, SEFFER formed his first avant-jazz outfit Perception in 1969 and two years later delivered a crazy chaotic dissonant style of European free jazz.

However in the meantime he hooked up with Christian Vander and played on the early jazz-oriented Magma albums and after joined Zao where he played sax, clarinet, flute, tarogato AND piano. With seemingly endless talent SEFFER first collaborated as a solo artist as a collaborative effort with Christian Vander and friends to create post-bop album before unleashing his own version of jazz-tinged zeuhl in 1976 with this debut release DELIRE. Adding the secondary band name Neffesh Music (music of the soul), SEFFER released three albums with this one being the most wild and ambitious with little though paid to the transcendental nature of what would come. DELIRE featured six tracks at nearly 39 minutes offered a wild mix of free jazz, jazz fusion, avant-prog and zeuhl.

Interesting for a zeuhl band, Neffesh Music lacked not only guitars but also featured no bassist (which future Neffish albums would feature). Sounding something like a mix of 20th century classical music and jazz, DELIRE featured a cello, bass clarinet, viola, violin and percussion with SEFFER handling the saxophone and long list of keyboard styles. The album remains one of those rarities that has still never been released beyond its 1976 first edition on the Moshé-Naïm label however readily available with a few click on your computer keyboard! Given the presence of so much wind instrumentation and a piano, this debut is undoubtedly more steeped in SEFFER's musical familiarity of avant-jazz however the chamber music elements give it a strange Stravinsky style.

This is fairly chaotic music with complex arrangements that offer strange counterpoints, independent musical processions that sometimes work together and others purposefully clash. Imagine the piano antics of Cecil Taylor with a chamber orchestra and you can imagine the freaky virtuosity exploding like fireworks. The zeuhl influences do occur however they hardly dominate especially in the most bizarrely twisted title track which takes avant-jazz meets chamber music to extremes with no Magma references whatsoever. This is b y far the most atonal and free jazz track of the entire album and sounds like a modern classical orchestra is battling it out with a free jazz ensemble. Totally wild and unapologetically demanding. The ending comedown track "Ima" which takes the jazzy saxophone playing into a more meditative state in the vein of Indo-raga with a buzzing drone effect with some chanting female vocalists joining in. Perhaps SEFFER's dabbling in jazz-tinged Krautrock?

It must be stressed that this album sounds nothing like Magma, Zao or even the following Neffesh albums and actually doesn't sound like anything i've heard. The unique mix of avant-jazz with modern classical chamber music crafts an interesting stylistic version of third stream however the album itself is quite diverse from beginning to end with easily digestible tracks more on the psychedelic side and of course al those gnarled instrumental workouts that come towards the end of each side of the album. While this would definitely be considered difficult music listening and very unclassifiable as far as pigeonholing a distinct genre, the craftsmanship on this is mind-blowing and every musician performing is the cream of the crop. If you don't like atonal free form jazz and crazy 20th century classical then don't even bother with this one but if that's your bailiwick then this is one you can't miss!