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JEAN MICHEL JARRE
BIOGRAPHY
1948: Jean Michel Jarre born in Lyon on 24 August, into a family
of musicians. At a very early age, he is initiated into the art
of counterpoint, fugue and harmony under the direction of
Jeannine Rueff of the Paris Conservatoire.
1968: In parallel to his literary studies, he joins the Music
Research Group (Groupe de Recherches Musicales, GRM) and works on
electroacoustic music techniques under the direction of Pierre
Schaeffer.
1969: Brings out his first electroacoustic disc - "La
Cage".
1971: Jean Michel Jarre brings electroacoustic music to the Paris
Opera by producing the score for the ballet "Aor".
1972: "Deserted Palace", Jean Michel Jarre's second
disc. The same year he produces the soundtrack of Jean Chapot's
film "Les Granges Brulees" starring Alain Delon and
Simone Signoret.
1976: "Oxygene" comes out. It becomes the Number One
record in the world and remains a success without precedent in
French record-producing history.
1978: "Equinoxe" confirms this success and makes a
further contribution to electronic rhythms and sequences. That
same year, Jean Michel Jarre composes the music for Peter
Fleischmann's film "La Maladie de Hambourg".
1979: One million people attend the concert given by Jean Michel
Jarre at "Place de la Concorde" for 14 July. That same
year, he writes the music for Peter Weir's film,
"Gallipoli" starring Mel Gibson.
1980: Brings out his third album, "Les Chants
Magnetiques". These more down-to-earth electroacoustic songs
represent a break with the atmosphere of his previous records.
1981: Concert tour in Peking and Shanghai. Jean Michel Jarre is
the first Western musician to be invited to perform by China in
the post-Mao era.
1982: "Les Concerts En Chine". On his return from
China, Jean Michel Jarre immediately produces a double album that
is a sound chronicle of his Chinese adventure.
1983: Spectacular new gesture by Jean Michel Jarre who auctions
"Musique Pour Supermarche", a disk pressed in just a
single copy.
1984: "Zoolook", a disk with a radically new tone,
comes out and is voted instrumental album of the year in France
and the United States.
1986: Jean Michel Jarre celebrates the 150th anniversary of
Houston (Texas) and the 25th anniversary of NASA at one of the
most spectacular concerts ever given in the history of music. On
this occasion, one and a half million Texans are introduced to
Jean Michel Jarre's new album "Rendez-vous".
On 5 October, Jean Michel Jarre gives a concert in Lyon, the city
of his birth, in honour of the visit of Pope John-Paul II.
"Rendez-vous Lyon", which was a baroque entertainment,
and a blend of classical and avant-garde, craftsmanship and
hi-tech, of the past and the future, will be remembered as an
outstanding concert.
1987: "Houston-Lyon, Cities in Concert", a compilation
album of the best moments of both concerts given in 1986.
1988: "Revolutions". The Arab world meets computers.
One of Jean Michel Jarre's most ethnic records. In October, Jarre
gives two concerts in the London Docklands, "Destination
Docklands", on a stage set that is half-derelict and
half-renovated : a shocking mixture of graffiti, violence,
disused warehouses and new architecture.
1989: "Jarre Live". More than ever, Jean Michel Jarre's
music incorporates the environment in which it is played.
1990: "En attendant Cousteau" which consists of two
separate parts : "Calypso", where the synthesizer meets
the Trinidad steel drum, and "En attendant Cousteau",
music in suspension, which is closely linked to the environment
and whose ingredients unfold slowly as time passes by :
"Paris-La Defense" is acclaimed on 14 July by an
audience of two and a half million.
1993: Jean Michel Jarre is once again in the spotlight. In May he
brings out "Chronologie", and between July and October
he presents his first tour, "Europe en Concert", to an
enthusiastic public, performing in fifteen of Europe's major
metropolises. This time, he transforms the site on which he
performs into an imaginary city of music, images and light. From
Lausanne to Seville, via Wembley and Versailles, these concerts
were an absolute triumph.
That same year, he is appointed "UNESCO's goodwill
Ambassador".
1994: On 11 March, Jean Michel Jarre inaugurates Hong Kong City
Arena at a one-off concert. On 14 November, the double live album
"Hong Kong" comes out.
1995: On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United
Nations and the Year for Tolerance, Jean Michel Jarre brought
together over one and a half million people in front of the
Eiffel Tower to celebrate the 14th July at a "Concert pour
la Tolerance". A traditional Arab orchestra, giant puppets
from the Caribbean, African percussionists and singers and the
Algerian singer Khaled took part in this event.
1996: He opens his first web site in association with the French
Ministry of Culture "Un espace pour la Tolerance" (A
Space for Tolerance) and devotes himself to the task of producing
his new album recorded in his own studio.
1997: "OXYGENE 7-13" launched worldwide on 18 February.
Preformed Oxygene Tour thru Europe, the first indoor Tour. Infact
the first Tour ever for Jean Michel Jarre.
OXYGENE in Moscow : on 6 September, Jean Michel Jarre performs
live in front of 3.5 million people as part of the celebrations
surrounding the city's 850th anniversary.
On 12 November : worldwide launch of "Complete Oxygene -
Part 1/6 - Part 7/13 + Oxygene in Moscow".
1998: 30 March - "Rendez-vous '98" single comes out.
This single features in the Official album of the Football World
Cup.
12 May - worldwide launch of "ODYSSEY THROUGH O2". The
first interactive multimedia album.
14 July - Concert "Nuit Electronics" for the
celebration of the World Football Cup, held during 12 june until
12 july.